50 Greatest Cricketers of All Time
The 50 greatest cricketers in history ranked by impact and legacy.
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The 50 greatest cricketers in history ranked by impact and legacy.
Sachin Tendulkar
The God of Cricket — 100 international centuries and 34,000+ international runs across a 24-year career are records that stand alone.
15921 Test runs · 53.78 Test average
Garfield Sobers
The greatest all-rounder who ever lived — West Indian cricket's most complete individual.
8032 Test runs · 57.78 Test average
Shane Warne
The greatest leg-spin bowler in cricket history — 708 Test wickets and the man who revived a dying art of bowling.
25.41 Test average · 708 Test wickets
Brian Lara
Holder of both the highest Test score (400*) and the highest first-class score (501*) — a unique distinction in cricket history.
11953 Test runs · 52.88 Test average
Imran Khan
Pakistan's greatest cricketer — World Cup-winning captain, all-rounder of exceptional quality, and later Prime Minister of Pakistan.
3807 Test runs · 37.69 Test average
Muttiah Muralitharan
The most successful bowler in Test cricket history with 800 wickets — a spinner whose unusual action generated extraordinary turn.
22.72 Test average · 800 Test wickets
Ricky Ponting
The most successful Test captain in history with 48 wins — led Australia to three consecutive World Cup triumphs in 1999, 2003 and 2007. Sco
13378 Test runs · 51.85 Test average
Jacques Kallis
Cricket's greatest all-rounder, averaging over 55 with the bat and taking 292 Test wickets.
13289 Test runs · 292 Test wickets
Virat Kohli
India's modern batting icon — the most successful Test run-chaser in history and the finest ODI batsman of his generation.
9000 Test runs · 49 Test average
Wasim Akram
The Sultan of Swing — 916 international wickets and the most lethal left-arm fast bowler in history.
23.6 Test average · 414 Test wickets
Sunil Gavaskar
Little Master — the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs and India's greatest batsman before Tendulkar.
10122 Test runs · 51.12 Test average
Kapil Dev
India's first World Cup — the catch at Lord's and an all-rounder who transformed Indian cricket.
5248 Test runs · 31.05 Test average
MS Dhoni
Captain Cool — ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup and World Test Championship as captain, the most successful captain in Indian cricket history.
4876 Test runs
Rahul Dravid
The Wall — the most technically correct batsman of his era, whose 13,288 Test runs and extraordinary consistency made him the foundation sto
13288 Test runs · 52.31 Test average
Adam Gilchrist
Revolutionary wicketkeeper-batsman who redefined the role with explosive strokeplay and a record 17 stumpings in Test cricket, combining stu
5570 Test runs
AB de Villiers
South Africa's most beloved cricketer and the most innovative batsman of his generation.
50.66 Test average
Ian Botham
Beefy — Headingley 1981 and the greatest all-rounder England has produced.
5200 Test runs · 33.54 Test average
Kumar Sangakkara
The most prolific batsman of the 21st century — 12,400 Test runs, four consecutive ODI centuries and the finest combination of batting and k
12400 Test runs · 57.4 Test average
Curtly Ambrose
The most terrifying tall fast bowler in cricket history — 405 Test wickets of almost unplayable quality.
20.99 Test average · 405 Test wickets
Michael Holding
Whispering Death — the most graceful and terrifying fast bowler in cricket history, whose 14-wicket performance against England at The Oval
60 Tests, 249 wickets, average 23.68
Alastair Cook
England's greatest ever Test batsman — 12,472 Test runs across 161 Tests, including the most Ashes centuries by an English player and the hi
12472 Test runs · 45.35 Test average
Sir Viv Richards
The Master Blaster — considered by many the greatest attacking batsman of all time with a Test average of 50.23 in an era without helmets.
8540 Test runs · 50.23 Test average
James Anderson
England's greatest ever bowler — 700+ Test wickets and the leading wicket-taker among fast bowlers in Test history, whose mastery of swing i
26.45 Test average · 700 Test wickets
Sir Garfield Sobers
Widely regarded as the greatest all-rounder in cricket history — Sir Garry Sobers could bat, bowl fast, bowl spin and field at the highest l
8032 Test runs · 57.78 Test average
Sir Don Bradman
The greatest statistical outlier in any sport — a Test batting average of 99.94, nearly 40 runs higher than any other player in history.
6996 Test runs · 99.94 Test average
Rachael Heyhoe Flint
The trailblazer of women's cricket — England captain who led the team to the first Women's World Cup victory in 1973 (before the men's equiv
1594 Test runs
Mahela Jayawardene
The most elegant batsman of his generation — 11,814 Test runs, a world record partnership of 624 alongside Sangakkara, and a legacy of grace
11814 Test runs · 49.84 Test average
Kevin Pietersen
The most naturally gifted England batsman since Denis Compton — 8,181 Test runs and four Ashes series victories before a spectacular falling
8181 Test runs · 47.28 Test average
Glenn McGrath
The most accurate fast bowler in cricket history — Glenn McGrath's 563 Test wickets at an average of 21.64 were achieved through metronomic
21.64 Test average · 563 Test wickets
Clive Lloyd
The architect of West Indies dominance — captain of the two most powerful teams in cricket history.
7515 Test runs · 46.67 Test average
Ben Stokes
England's greatest modern all-rounder — his unbeaten 135 at Headingley in the 2019 Ashes is considered the finest innings in Test history. S
6500 Test runs · 36 Test average
Viv Richards
The Master Blaster — Sir Viv Richards is considered by many who played against him to be the most intimidating batsman who ever played the g
World Cup 1975 1979
Zaheer Khan
India's greatest ever left-arm pace bowler and the master of reverse swing.
311 Test wickets
David Warner
Australia's most destructive opener — Sandpaper Gate villain, Test redemption story.
8786 Test runs
Mervyn Hughes
Australia's most intimidating fast bowler of the 1980s and early 1990s — Mervyn Hughes was as much a psychological weapon as a physical one.
414 Test wickets
Meg Lanning
Australia's greatest women's cricket captain and the finest female batter of her generation — led Australia to six ICC world titles, averagi
398 Test runs
Ravichandran Ashwin
India's greatest off-spinner and the second-most successful Test bowler in Indian history.
537 Test wickets
Andrew Flintoff
Freddie — England's most beloved cricketer of the modern era, whose 2005 Ashes performance was the finest all-round series by an England pla
3845 Test runs · 31.77 Test average
Harbhajan Singh
India's off-spin legend who tormented batsmen for 15 years and won two World Cups.
417 Test wickets
Charlotte Edwards
England's most successful women's cricket captain — led England to four Ashes series victories, the 2009 World Cup and the 2009 World Twenty
1676 Test runs
Karen Rolton
Australia's greatest women's all-rounder before the modern era — ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year 2006, World Cup winner and a batter-bowle
1002 Test runs
Cathryn Fitzpatrick
The fastest female bowler in cricket history — capable of genuine pace that troubled the world's best batters, a World Cup winner and a bowl
60 Test wickets
Joe Root
England's greatest Test batsman — over 13,000 Test runs and one of the finest innings players the game has produced.
13404 Test runs · 49.9 Test average
Younis Khan
Pakistan's all-time leading Test run-scorer, a technically sound and mentally tough batsman who captained his country and averaged over 52 a
10099 Test runs · 52.29 Test average
Ross Taylor
New Zealand's greatest ever batter and the country's all-time leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs, a complete batsman of exceptional q
11174 Test runs · 51.85 Test average
Gordon Greenidge
Dominant Barbadian opening batsman and architect of many West Indian victories, whose powerful hooking, driving and extraordinary partnershi
7558 Test runs · 63.42 Test average
Waqar Younis
The Yorker King — toe-crushing reverse swing and the finest bowling partnership with Wasim Akram.
23.6 Test average · 373 Test wickets
Joel Garner
Big Bird — the most economical and lethal fast bowler of the West Indies' era of dominance.
20.97 Test average · 259 Test wickets
Ravindra Jadeja
India's greatest Test all-rounder — an elite left-arm spinner and aggressive lower-order batsman.
300+ Test wickets
VVS Laxman
One of Test cricket's greatest match-winners, capable of conjuring miraculous innings out of nowhere.
8781 Test runs · 45.97 Test average