Indian Test Cricket Heroes - 1970-2020 Quiz

Answer: Batsman

Making his test debut at the age of 16 against Pakistan in 1989, Tendulkar quickly established himself as one of the premier batsmen of not only his era but of all time. With a very solid defence and an ability to score runs all around the ground, his style and proficiency earned him the nickname 'The Little Master'.

At the time of his retirement from test cricket in 2013, he had amassed a world record of 15,921 test runs in a record 200 test matches at an elite average of 53.78. He also had the test record of 51 centuries, including 6 double centuries and a top score of 248 not out.

Answer: Bowler

A tall, accurate leg-spinner, Anil Kumble played his first test match in 1990 at Manchester against England. Just over 18 years later, he played the last of his 132 tests against Australia at Delhi. Over those test matches, Kumble was frequently a match-winner.

He was only the second man in test history to take all 10 wickets in an innings, which he achieved against Pakistan in 1999 (Jim Laker was the first, against Australia in 1956). He was the first Indian (and third overall after Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan) to take 600 test wickets (with 619 wickets).

Answer: Batsman

A reliable and elegant batsman, Rahul Dravid earned the nickname "The Wall" for his incredible defence. A combination of this almost impenetrable defence against all forms of bowling, a phenomenal capacity to concentrate for long periods and the ability to capitalize on bad balls meant that Dravid scored 13,288 runs at an elite 52.31 over his 164 tests, spanning a debut in 1996 (at Lords versus England) to 2012 (at Adelaide versus Australia). Dravid also scored 36 test centuries; even more impressively 21 of these centuries were made away from his home country. Perhaps one of his greatest achievements was the monumental partnership of 376 with V.V.S. Laxman against Australia in the second test against Australia in the second test at Eden Gardens in 2001 - this partnership not only changed the course of this match but the entire series.

Answer: Bowler

From playing the first of his 67 tests against the West Indies starting December 31, 1966 to his final test against England at The Oval in 1979, Bedi demonstrated a sublime artistry in left hand, slow orthodox spin bowling. He formed a prodigious partnership with other great Indian spinners of the time including Prasanna, Chandrasekhar and Venkataraghavan. Eschewing defensive bowling, Bedi used a combination of loop, drift and drop to confuse batsmen and was rewarded with 266 test wickets at an average of 28.71.

His career best 7 for 98 (or 98 for 7 depending on where in the world you're reading cricket statistics!) was achieved in the 1969 test against Australia at Kolkata (then Calcutta).

Answer: All-Rounder

Kapil Dev (Kapildev Ramlal Nikhanj) was a prodigiously talented cricketer with both bat and ball and is considered one of the greatest all-rounders in cricket history. In the period spanning 1978 (against Pakistan at Faisalabad) to 1994 (against New Zealand at Hamilton), Dev played 131 test matches and took 434 wickets and scored 5248 runs.

He was the second bowler in test history to take 400 wickets and in 1994 he surpassed New Zealand's Sir Richard Hadlee on 431 to become the highest wicket taker in test history - this record stood until 2000 when West Indian Courtney Walsh took his 435th wicket. Dev's accurate fast-medium outswing bowling was combined with an aggressive attitude towards batting.

His test runs included 8 centuries with a top score of 163 against Sri Lanka at Kanpur in 1986.

Answer: Wicketkeeper

Syed Kirmani played his first test match against New Zealand at Auckland in 1976. He played his 88th and last test against Australia in Sydney ten years later. Over that decade Kirmani played 88 tests taking 160 catches and making 38 stumpings; the latter being the third most in test history behind Bert Oldfield (52, Australia) and Godfrey Evans (46, England).

He was a neat and efficient keeper with equal capability keeping to pace (including Kapil Dev) and India's famed spin quartet. In his second test match he equalled the world record of six dismissals in one innings.

Answer: Batsman

Opening batsman extraordinaire, the diminutive Sunil Gavaskar played 125 test matches from 1971 (West Indies at Port of Spain) to 1987 (Pakistan at Bengaluru). Gavaskar was widely admired for his technique against fast bowling, including the fearsome West Indies speed quartets of the 1970s and 1980s.

He was a prolific run scorer at test level, being the first player to pass 10,000 test runs (he finished with 10,122) and had the most test centuries (34) until this was surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar in 2005.

His highest score of 236 not out against the might of the West Indies at Chennai (then Madras) in 1983 was a masterpiece of batsmanship and concentration, taking 425 deliveries with over 10 hours at the crease.

Answer: Bowler

Javagal Srinath picked up the fast bowling mantle from Indian great, Kapil Dev. He made his debut (playing with Dev) against Australia at Brisbane in 1991 and played the last of his 67 tests against the West Indies at Eden Gardens in 2002. Over that period he took 236 wickets with best innings figures of 8 wickets for 86.

He collected 5 wickets in an innings, nominally the bowler's equivalent of a batsman's century, on 10 occasions. Srinath also has an achievement of which he may have mixed feelings - he had the best test match bowling figures in a losing team.

He took 13 wickets for 132 runs (including his 8 for 86) against Pakistan at Eden Gardens in a 46 run loss at Eden Gardens in 1999.

Answer: Bowler

Harbhajan Singh was an extremely talented and effective off-spinner who played 102 test matches for India between 1998 (versus Australia at Bengaluru) and 2015 (versus Sri Lanka at Galle). Over that period he captured 417 wickets, at the time the most ever for an Indian spinner (until surpassed by Ravi Ashwin in 2021).

He was also the first Indian bowler to take a test hat trick - a feat he performed against Australia at Eden Gardens in 2001. Inside India, his nickname is Bhajji, but to the rest of the cricketing world he is often known as 'The Turbanator' - a play on 'The Terminator' - combining a reference to his turban but more importantly, his ability to destroy batting line-ups.

Answer: All-Rounder

Ravi Shastri was one of the unusual players who batted right-handed but bowled left-handed. Nevertheless, he was extremely effective at both skills. Shastri played his first test against New Zealand at Wellington in 1981; his final match was at Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) against South Africa in 1992. During his 80 test match career, he scored 3,830 runs at an average of 35.79 with 11 centuries and took 151 wickets with his left arm orthodox spin bowling.

His highest score, 206, was recorded in the drawn 3rd test at Sydney in 1992 where he and Sachin Tendulkar put fledgling Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne to the sword. Warne finished with 1 wicket (Shastri himself) for 150 but did rather better from that point onwards.

Answer: Batsman

Stylish right-handed batsman, Mohammad Azharuddin, made his test debut in the 1984-85 home series against England. He was the first batsman in test cricket history to make centuries in his first three matches. He retired from test cricket after completing his 99th test match in 2000 at Bengaluru (against South Africa), finishing in style with another century. Overall, he scored 6,215 runs at an average of 45.03 and completed 22 test centuries with a top score of 199, when he was LBW to Sri Lanka's Ravi Ratnayeke in India's mammoth 7 wickets for 676 declared.

This was the same innings where Kapil Dev also achieved his highest test score of 163.

Answer: Batsman

A precocious teenage talent, the tall and stylish Dilip Vengsarkar played his first test match for India at the age of 19 against New Zealand at Auckland in 1976. Over the next 16 years he played a further 115 matches, retiring from test cricket after the 5th test in Perth against Australia. Batting in the challenging and pivotal number 3 position, Vengsarkar amassed 6,868 runs at an average of 42.13 with 17 centuries.

He shared India's highest 6th wicket partnership in tests of 298 undefeated with Ravi Shastri against Australia in Mumbai (Wankhede Stadium) in 1986.

Answer: Batsman

A flamboyant and destructive opening batsman, Virender Sehwag flayed opposition bowling attacks from his first test match at Bloemfontein against South Africa in 2001 to his last (and 104th in total) against Australia at Hyderabad in 2013. His attacking style made him a fan favorite across the cricketing world.

He wasn't all "flash and dash" though, he scored 8,586 runs in 180 innings at a great average of 49.34, with 23 centuries. He became the third player (after Don Bradman and Brian Lara) to record two test match triple centuries.

His career strike rate was an amazing 82 runs per 100 balls, more attuned to one day international cricket rather than the usually more sedate tempo of test cricket.

Answer: Wicketkeeper

Kiran More approached test cricket as the understudy to Syed Kirmani. He grabbed his chance - as all good keepers do! - on the 1986 tour to England where he played at Lords in the first of his 49 test matches. Over the course of his test career, which finished at Colombo against Sri Lanka in 1993, he took part in 130 dismissals (110 caught, 20 stumped).

He set a new record for the most stumpings in a test match - 6 - which he performed at Chennai in 1988 in a 255 run win against the West Indies. Five of these stumpings were in the second innings (also a record) and all but one of the six were from the bowling of leg-spinning debutant Narendra Hirwani (who also set a test record of best debut match bowling figures of 16 wickets for 136 runs).

Answer: Bowler

Like Ravi Shastri, Zaheer Khan was another right hand bat and a left hand bowler. However, Zaheer was a wonderful exponent of fast-medium swing bowling and at the faster end of that spectrum. He could control both in-swing and out-swing and later in his career was extremely proficient with reverse-swing with the old ball.

He made his test debut against Bangladesh at Dhaka and went on to play 92 tests, finishing in Wellington in 2014 against New Zealand. His career was interrupted several times by injury but when he was 'on song' he was a delight to watch but would have been extremely difficult to face, especially with the advantage of taking the ball across the right-handed batsmen.

His 311 test wickets are a testament to both his skill and perseverance.