All Stars 11 ( Part 1)

India played its first ever test against England in 1932 which they ended up loosing by 158 runs. It took them 19 years and 25 tests before they could register first ever test win.India wasn’t as good as the Aussies, England or West Indies. But they too had their share of stars. We can divide India’s Cricketing history in two parts the first 60 years.1932-1992 and from 1992-till now. The classification of the “All Stars 11” is done in the same way. Here’s the All Stars 11 part 1 (1932-1992). The criteria for selecting the All Stars 11 was the cricketer must have played atleast 40 tests.

1. SM Gavaskar (1971-1987 )

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0 12
125	214	16	10122	236*	51.12	34	45

Born on 10 July 1949 in Bombay, Maharashtra ,widely regarded as one of the greatest opening batsmen in test match history, Gavaskar set world records during his career for the most runs and most centuries scored by any batsman. Made his debut against the West Indies in 1971. He was widely admired for his technique against fast bowling, afterall how many opening batsmen average 65.45 against the West Indies. He was the first Indian to aggregate more than 700 runs in a series, and this 774 runs at 154.80 remains the most runs scored in a debut series by any batsman. Incidently Gavaskar didn't score a century on home soil until 1976.He captained India to nine victories and eight losses, but most of the games were drawn, 30. He was named the wisdon cricketer of the year in 1979.

2. Vinoo Mankad (1946-1959)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	Wick	BBI	Avg
44	72	5	2109	231	31.47	5	6	162	8/52	32.32

(12 April 1917 - 21 August 1978) An effective batsman and slow left arm orthodox bowler, he played in 44 Tests for India, and made 2109 runs at an average of 31.47 including five Test centuries with a top score of 231. He also took 162 wickets at the average of 32.32, including eight five-wicket hauls. He is one of the three cricketers to have batted in every position, from the first to the last, during his Test career. Mankad was the first player in more than 30 years to score a 100 and take five wickets in the same Test and the first Indian to achieve this feat. In 1956 he hit 231 against New Zealand at Chennai and together with Pankaj Roy established the world record opening partnership of 413 runs which stood for 52 years.

3. DB Vengsarkar (1976-1992)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0 15
116	185	22	6868	166	42.13	17	35

Born 6 April 1956 in Rajapur, Maharashtra , he was one of the most stylish batsmen of his time. He was also known by the nickname 'Colonel'. While the West Indies pacemen dominated the cricket world, Dilip Vengsarkar was one of the few batsmen who was successful against them, and scored 6 centuries against the likes of Marshall, Holding and Roberts. He has the distinction of scoring three consecutive Test match centuries at Lord's. From 1986 to 1988, in 16 Tests, he scored eight hundreds. He was the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1987.

4. GR Viswanath (1969-1983)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0
91	155	10	6080	222	41.93	14	35	10

Born on 12 February 1949 in Bhadravathi, Karnataka. He was one of the worlds finest batsmen in the 1970s. Viswanath, popularly nicknamed Vishy, had an elegant and wristy batting style which emphasised timing rather than power. He was an artist rather than a run-machine. On his Test match debut, Viswanath scored a century and a duck against Australia at Kanpur in 1969, one of only three batsmen to have done this in their first match. He averaged over 50 against two of the most feared attacks of that era. A feat of Viswanath's career is that India never lost a game in which he scored a century. Especially memorable was an unbeaten, match winning 97 against a rampaging Andy Roberts at Madras in 1974-75. Viswanath often excelled on pitches others found difficult - witness his match winning 124 out of 255 on another fiery, bouncy Madras wicket against West Indies in 1978-79, and innings of 83 and 79 against New Zealand on a Christchurch greentop in 1975-76. He played the game in its true spirit.

5. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi (1961-1975)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0
46	83	3	2793	203*	34.91	6	16	7

Born on January 5, 1941 in Bhopal, Also known as the The Nawab of Pataudi, arguably, India's greatest captain ever. He led India in 40 of 46 Tests he played in, and won 12 of them. Under him, India achieved their first overseas Test victory against New Zealand in 1967. As a batsman he was boldly adventurous and unorthodox for his times, and unafraid to loft the ball over the infield. His Test average was a modest 34, but what he could have achieved with complete sight is a matter of conjecture.

6. PR Umrigar (1948-1962)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	Wick	BBI	Avg
59	94	8	3631	223	42.22	12	14	35	6/74	42.08

Born on 28 March 1926, he was primarily a middle-order batsman, as a bowler, he was an accurate offspinner and could even open the bowling, sending down outswingers. He captained the Indian team in eight Test matches from 1955 to 1958. When he retired in 1962, he had played in more Tests (59), scored more Test runs (3,631), and recorded more Test centuries (12), than any other Indian player. He scored the first double century by an Indian in Test cricket against New Zealand in Hyderabad. He scored 130 not out going in at No.7 in India’s first ever test win against England in 1951. He is only one of two Indian cricketers (Vinoo Mankad being the other) to score a century and take five wickets in an innings - a feat he achieved against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1962. He died on 7^th November 2006.

7. Kapil Dev (1978-1994)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	Wick	BBI	Avg
131	184	15	5248	163	31.05	8	27	434	9/84	29.64

Born on 6 January 1959, Chandigarh one of the greatest all-rounders of all time was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century. The Haryana Hurricane was a right-arm pace bowler noted for his graceful action and potent outswinger, he was a natural striker of the ball. He often helped India in difficult situations by taking the attack to the opposition. He retired as highest wicket taker in both forms of the game and to date is the only person to take 400 wickets and score more than 5,000 runs in test cricket. \in the series against Pakistan in 1979-80, became the youngest Test player to achieve the all-round double of 100 Wickets and 1000 Runs and in 25 matches (although Ian Botham took just 21 matches to achieve the same feat) and finished the series with 32 wickets (Ave: 17.68) and 278 runs that included 2 fifties. India's tour of Australia in 1980-81 had the looks of the familiar Indian series as India were 1-0 down and were defending a meager 143 runs and Kapil Dev virtually ruled out with a groin injury. Kapil willed himself to play the final day with pain-killing injections and removed the dangerous Australia middle order. Kapil won the match for India with the innings bowling performance of 16.4-4-28-5. If he had played at any other time - not when Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Richard Hadlee were contemporaries - he would surely have been recognised as the best allrounder in the world.

8. SMH Kirmani (1976-1986)

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	100	50	0	Ct	St
88	124	22	2759	102	27.04	2	12	7	160	38

Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani was born on December 29, 1949 in Madras. Popularly known as 'Kiri', Syed Kirmani is generally regarded as the finest wicket keeper to play for India. Kirmani made his debut against New Zealand and in his second Test, equalled the world record of six victims in an innings. He had 17 catches and two stumpings against Pakistan in 1979-80 and it equalled Naren Tamhane's Indian record for a single series. Against England in 1981–82, he did not concede a single bye in three consecutive Tests while 1964 runs were scored.

9. BS Bedi (1966-1979)

Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avg	BBI	BBM	SR	5w	10w
67	118	21364	7637	266	28.71	7/98	10/194	80.3	14	1

Born 25 September 1946 in Amritsar, formed part of the famous Indian spin quartet.His bowling has been described as graceful, even beautiful, and full of guile and artistry.In 2008, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack named Bedi as one of the five best cricketers to have not been selected as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. He said that he has always washed his own clothes, calling it "the best exercise for your shoulders and fingers", when pointing out that spin bowling requires suppleness of limbs. He finished with 1560 first-class wickets, more than any other Indian bowler. He was forthright and outspoken throughout his playing career, and inevitably courted controversies: objecting to the use of Vaseline by England bowler John Lever in 1976-77, declaring India's second innings at Kingston in protest against intimidatory bowling by the West Indians in 1976 and, famously, threatening to dump the Indian cricket team in the sea in 1990, when he was the coach.

10. EAS Prasanna (1962-1978)

Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avg	BBI	BBM	SR	5w	10w
49	86	14353	5742	189	30.38	8/76	11/140	75.9	10	2

Born on May 22, 1940, made his debut Test cricket match at Madras against England in 1961. His first overseas tour to the West Indies was a tough one and he did not play another Test for five years. He left the sport for a period to finish his engineering degree, returning in 1967. A bowler with an attacking mindset, he was also patient, and would bait a batsman for over after over, attempting to induce a mistake. He has written an autobiography, One More Over.

11. BS Chandrasekhar (1964-1979)

Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	Avg	BBI	BBM	SR	5w	10w
58	97	15963	7199	242	29.74	8/79	12/104	65.9	16	2

Born May 17, 1945 in Mysore, Considered amongst the top echelon of leg-spinners, Chandrasekhar along with E.A.S. Prasanna, Bishen Singh Bedi and Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan constituted the Indian spin quartet that dominated spin bowling in the 1960s and 1970s. Overcoming a polio attack which withered his right wrist as a child, so that he always used his left arm for throwing, he became one of the most successful leg spin bowlers in cricket history.. He was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1972 and won the Wisden's "Best bowling performance of the century" award in 2002, for his 6 wickets for 38 runs against England at the Oval in 1971 which helped India to a series win. He was instrumental in India's first win in Australia in 1978, taking 12 for 104 at Melbourne. He also holds the dubious record of scoring fewer runs (167) off his bat than wickets (267) taken in Test Cricket.