Top 25 Cricketers of all time

Sir Don Bradman has an astronomical average of 99.94 in test cricket which none of the cricketerd came close to breaking. In 1930 tour of England he scored 974 runs, a record which still stands. Unfortunately he was dismissed for a duck in his last innings where he needed 4 runs to achieve a batting average of 100. Bradman set a then world record for first-class cricket by scoring 452 not out in only 415 minutes.

Sobers was one of the best allrounders of the game. He scored loads of runs, bowled seam or spin with great ease along with being one of the finest fielders. He hit 6 sixes in an over in one of the first class match. He scored 8032 runs with an average of 57.78 and took 235 wickets. He scored unbeaten 365 runs in an innings in 1958, a feat that remained unsacthed for next 36 years.

Sachin Tendulkar commonly known as "God of Cricket" in India broke all the batting records in the cricket history. He scored 100 centuries and around 35,000 runs in international cricket career which spans over 24 years. He represented India in 6 World Cups and finally winning one in 2011. He scored first double century in ODI cricket, an improbable feat until then.

Viv Richards was one of the fearsome and hard hitting batsman of his era. He scored 1710 runs in a calendar year in 1976. He scored 189* in an ODI which remain a record for long time. He was part of West Indies team that won 2 World Cups in 1975 and 1979; he scored 138 runs in the final when his team was in trouble, he single handedly won them the match. As a captain he led his country in 50 tests and never lost any series.

Shane Warne is regarded as one of the best bowlers in the cricket history. Warne took 708 wickets in 145 tests at an average of 25. His rivarly with Sachin Tendulkar was one of the best and entetaining one in the history. He was part of invicible Australia team of late 90s and early 2000 and won 2 World Cups. He bowled one of the finest ball in 1993 which is famously known as "Ball of the Century" which bowled Mike Gatting.

Ian Botham is the England's greatest allrounder. He scored 14 centuries, took 27 five wickets haul and 383 wickets in test cricket. He won England 5 Ashes series. He is one of the few cricketers who have scored 100 runs and taken 10 wicket haul in the same match. He was awarded a knighthood in the 2007 for his achievements in cricket on and off fields.

Imran Khan transformed the Pakistan cricket and won his country first World Cup after almost eliminating from the competition. He scored 3,807 runs and took 362 wickets in Test cricket. In 2018 he became prime minister of his country.

Brain Lara is known to play longer innings. In test he broke Garry Sobers long standing record of 365, when Matthew Hayden broke his record he regained it back with a stylish score of 400 not out. He also holds the record of highest first class score with an unbeaten 501 runs. One of his finest batting display was seen against Australia in Barbodas in 1999 where he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with an unbeaten 153 runs.

Jack Hobbs was one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, in first class cricket he scored 61,670 runs and 199 centuries. In 61 tests he played for England he scored over 5,000 runs with an average of close to 57.

Akram was left arm fast bowler and formed one of the great opening bowling pair with Waqar Younis in the ODIs. He took 400 test and 500 ODI wickets. Earlier in his career he became famous for his 2 deliveries that he bowled in the final of 1992 World Cup against England and later for his knock of 257 against Zimbabwe to lift his team from a struggling position.

Muralitharan engraved his name in most of the bowling records. He has an unmatched bowling records in test crikcet with 800 wickets, 67 five-wicket and 22 ten-wicket hauls. In ODI cricket he ended with 534 wickets and 10 five-wicket haul.

WG has played a monumental role in scoping the future of Test cricket. He played bulk of his cricket at first-class for 44 seasons from 1865 to 1908 where he scored over 50,000 runs and took 2,800 wickets.

Kallis was one of underrated cricketer of mordern era although his numbers depict him as one of the best allrounders of the game. He could have played any match strictly as a batsman or as a bowler. In tests he has scored over 13,000 runs with 45 centuries at an average of 55 and taken 292 wickets. In ODI he has scored over 11,000 runs at an average of 44 and had taken 273 wickets.

Richard Hadlee is considered one of the best fast bowling allrounders in the cricket history. He ended game with 431 test wickets which was a World record at that time. In ODI, he became the first player to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets.

Hammond scored 336 against New Zealand in 1933 which was record that time. In 1929 Ashes series, he scored 905 runs against Australia. He was one of the best slip fielders and an effective medium pace bowler for this team. He ended up scoring over 7000 runs in test cricket and over 50,000 runs in the first class cricket.

Kapil Dev was the man who made his team believe that they could compete and beat any of the teams in the world. He won India World Cup in 1983 after beating mighty West Indies in the finals, in one of the matches during that series he scored unbeaten 175 when is team was struggling at 17/5. He hit Eddie Hemmings for 4 consecutive sixes to avoid the follow on against England.

Sydney Barnes was one of best bowlers of early 20th century, he could move ball both ways in air and could bowl off and leg breaks efficiently. He took 189 wickets in only 27 tests, unfortunately his international career ended because of the world war.

Gavaskar came to limelight on cricket platform in his first test series against mighty West Indies in 1971 where he scored 774 runs in 4 matches. He was first player to breach the 10,000 runs landmark in test cricket and his 34 centuries stayed as record for a very long time.

Among Indian batsmen, Kohli has the best ever Test rating (937 points), ODI rating (911 points) and T20I rating (897 points). He was part of the squad that won the 2011 World Cup. He is one of the most prolific ODI batsman with average nearly 60 and a master of run chases.

McGrath lead invincible Austrailian pace bowling attack in early 2000. He ended the game with 563 test and 381 one day wickets. He was part of Australian team that won the World Cup 3 times.

Keith Miller is still considered best Australian all rounder. He was part of Bradman's invincible team. He scored close to 3,000 runs and tooks 170 wickets in 55 tests he played. His first class record was even better. He also played professional club football and served as pilot during second World war.

Gilchrist broke the mould of a typical wicketkeeper and set a very hig standard for them as a batsman. He singlehandedly won his team World Cup when he scored 149 against Sri Lanka in the final. He was part of mighty Australian team that won the world cup 3 times.

Dennis Lillee was known for his fast bowling and fiery temperament. He formed a great bowling pair with Thomson and terrorized batsmen at Ashes series. He took 355 wickets in only 70 tests. He also took first five wicket haul in ODIs.

Sangakkara is one of most consistent and profilic batsman of morden era. One of the highlights of his career is scoring 4 centuries in single World Cup edition and his 624 run partnership with Jayawardena in test against Bangladesh.

Ponting is one of the decorated and succesful captains in the history of cricket. As a captain he won over 200 matches in 324 ODI matches and in 77 tests he was on winning side 48 times.
As a batsman he was eqaully good, he has scored over 13,000 runs in both test and ODI cricket. He was also a finest catcher in slips and point.

Following few Cricketers missed out of top 25 narrowly:

> Steve Waugh (Australia)
> George Headley (West Indies)
> Rahul Dravid (India)
> Wilfred Rhodes (England)
> Len Hutton (England)