Players come & go & records are made & broken, but there are none like the legend of Sir Donald Bradman who is the most ultimate player to have descended on ground & holds the most enviable record of 99.94. His feat of 7,000 runs in 80 innings with 29 tons 12 of which were double are only a few of his great achievements. His runs came at a strike rate of 67 which showed he was an aggressive batsman. He has 2 300s to his name one of which he scored in a single day. He has scored 800+ runs in a Test series many times & holds the record for scoring the most runs in a Test series. He is clearly the most dominant batsman to have played the game & his record of average is a teaser.

There have been many all-rounders, many of them genuine but the class of Sir Garry Sobers is unmatchable. 8000 runs & 235 wickets at that time are not only unaccomplishable but unbelievable & the aggregate was a record for some years. The world record of 365 was unbroken for 30 years & his 6 6s in an over are still unrepeated. He had a fantasy debut in 1955 & led the WI team for many years. He is undebatably the greatest cricketer the world has ever seen & a true deserver of the title of "GOAT". I salute Sir Sobers for this.

The game has had many master blasters over the course but there hasn't been anyone like the great Viv Richards who was the first of that category & has still the highest strike rate for batsmen with high runs. His majesty over hammering the ball to the boundary in the process of tormenting bowlers & teams was a rare skill & he commanded his innings with full control & domination & was a real hero in the time. His average of 56 at the strike rate of 86 was a record in Tests & he was as strong in his craft as physically. He is by far the most flambouyant batsman the game has ever seen & is the original king of aggressive batting.

Our own little master who dominated the most difficult fast bowlers of all time as an opener & had the most fool proof technique. His defense was rock-solid & he had the best temperament in the game. Making 13 Test centuries against the mighty WI of that time & was the first holder of the 10000 runs mark. Has been serving Indian cricket as a mentor & guide since his retirement since then.

There have been many misfortunes in cricket, but none has been like the underplaying of the legendary Barry Richards. He was a player par the best, but he could play only 4 Tests in his entire career. His country got banned from ICC because of Apartheid. He would have played definitely for 20-22 years, but his masculine prowess got shadowed off non-cricketing reasons. No surprise, he did as well in the first class career & maintained a consistency of among the best, but his short stint in international cricket is a misfate mournable for ever. The world missed another magnanimous crafter. I miss him much as an underplayed warrior.

Allan Border has been for me a soft killing run accumulater. His record of most Test runs is a peak, but the fact that he had no other greater record apart from this & most Test half centuries, underlines that he must have been a run accumulater. He scored his runs in the middle averages & ended up being the leaders. Mr. Border was a stalwart of the highest class in my books & his 11000 seems the most mountaineous feat ever in the history of cricket. I hail this legend for his sublime consistency.

There are many unsung players at several levels of the game, but few are as less celebrated as the great Vishy of India. His average states him much lower than what he was capable of. He stood tall for India everytime in crisis & scored big hundreds in crunch situations. He has a record of India never losing a match when he scored a century. He has been the idol of many greats of India even like Kapil Paji. He has scored 4-5 double hundreds in first class cricket but he has average of only 41 in Tests. Sunny Sir also hails him as the best batsman of his generation.

GG & DH, the two explosive openers of that mighty West Indies team of the '80s who tormented all bowling lineups ripping them apart along with Viv Richards & they were quite a pair as a twosome & scored 6000 runs in partnership. Sir Gordon Greenidge scored the most runs in the 1979 WC (253) & was a feared batsman among the best of bowlers.

The other partner of the opening pair, who held the record for the most centuries in One-Day for long. Before it was taken over by the master blaster. He had applied for the interview of the Indian coach position also when BCCI had floored the appointment in 2005. He is also knighted & had the record for most runs in partnership with Greenidge in One-Day which was overtaken by Sachin & Ganguly later.

The Asian Bradman of our own sub-continent who was hailed for his sublime timing, wristy technique & Bradmanseque average because he had once made 583 @ 100 in his early series & had average of 47 & S.R. of 90 in even ODIs, he is a stalwart of Pakistan who is regarded as a much sober person also, was a legend of excellence & I have heard many of his stories from Sunny Sir also & he is celebrated in Pakistan as an icon of the nation. I salute him for his greatness & post him as my idol no. 11.

Sachin is a blood bond to people all over India. People feel for Sachin just the same way they feel for their own body & soul. Respect for Sachin is mandatory & his criticism is unacceptable. So, needless to say, his services are learnt to heart & he is a "God" to most. My point distinctly here will be how controlled & grounded he remained even in his struggleful periods like 2003-04. A personality of his size & stature is natural to have pride & ego & feel frustrated when down & struggling like in this period. His height in the Indian cricket is too tall to be criticised easily. But the "Gawwwd" maintained his dignity even during this time & bounced back without any show-offs or tantrums still speaking only with his bat & elevating India's honour in the world. Plus, he isn't irked by premature compairisions of new players with him & declaring of them better than him unjustifiedly by some people & takes them with cool temper & laughter. Hats-off to the veteran.

The "Great Wall Of India" is really a wall of the highest strength & potency despite his calm & humble nature. Considered a talented Test batsman ever since his coming he was a hard pillar of India's batting always & his rise to super form in the 2003-04 season where he aggegated 1300 runs in 9 matches & averaged 100 & smashed 3 double centuries in India's big conquests showed how much power, stamina & commitment he has & he raced up from being a dark horse to being the most stylish batsman of the time. His appointment of captaincy filled colourful shades in my dreams & I was elated becoming the deputy under him. We both were much of the same nature & struck well both personally & on the pitch. He was the most deserving player as captain in that time & proved it by escalating India's performance through the years. Rahul is my favourite player as a person & my best friend in the team. Love you Jammie.

Brian Lara was much like his name "The Prince Of Modern Cricket". His style & flair & the potential as a young talent was unmatchable & he was a treat to watch. His flawless technique & flashy style of batting were starry & he attracted love, admiration & adulation from the world over for it. His penchant for high scores & tendency of making world records stunned every one & made him the apple of every one's eyes. He played many innings of high scores in difficult situations & carried his team as a one-man army for many years. It is unarguable that he would have fared even greater if his team had some good players in his time. Though his performance didn't match his promise but he is a real rockstar in cricket.

When diligence meets luck, the result is what the Australian team achieved. The availability of so many talented players & a spirited captain in Steve Waugh startled Australia's fortunes since 1999 & the entertainment & fun they produced was magical & Ricky Ponting was the benefitor of it as he got a successful team in legacy & smashed the storm with full force & broke all records of aggression. His phase from 2003 to 2009 was amazeful & he pleased the watchers of other countries as much as those of his own. His record as a player & captain both are unprecedented & he is the most stylish player I have seen in my playing days for the amount of fun & energy he generated.

Many players have faced misfortunes of many kinds but none has been like Matty Haydos who experienced the bad luck of getting to play much less & getting place in the team very late only. Matty was always as talented as he later proved but somehow he couldn't impress in his early years in the team. Got to play many times from 1993 to 1999 but failed in all attempts. He hit consistency only from 1999 but once he came in that form, never turned back. Remained always in the thick of things & broke a plethora of records. The high points of his career are so many that it isn't easy to believe he was so unsung as he was due to being in a team which was overloaded with stars. He piled a 500 runs aggregate in the Test tour of India in 2001 smashing a 200 in the course, broke the world record of highest individual innings in Test, smashed 20 centuries between 2001 & 2004 & bulked a total of 659 in the 2007 WC. The highlights of his batting are even more but he is beyond appreciation. I love Haydos.