Ravi Shastri names his 5 greatest Indian ODI cricketers

Overview

• Ahead of the second ODI of the series between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval, Ravi Shastri picked his five greatest Indian ODI cricketers
• The former Indian Coach included the greats of the 21st century like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and MS Dhoni in his list
• The legendary cricketers who debuted before the 1990s like Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar were also in Shastri's list

Ahead of the second ODI of the series between India and Australia at the Adelaide Oval, Ravi Shastri picked his five greatest Indian ODI cricketers. The former Indian Coach considered those who had a huge impact on the team in various roles like batting, bowling, fielding, wicketkeeping, captaincy, and so on.

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Ravi Shastri names his 5 greatest Indian ODI cricketers

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma was picked by Shastri as the fifth best Indian cricketer of all-time. Sharma has won two Champions Trophy titles in 2013 and 2025, respectively, of which the 2025 title came as the skipper.

He has performed well in major tournaments numerous times. In the Champions Trophy 2017, he was among the lading run-scorers. In the ODI World Cup 2019 and 2023, Sharma scored 648 and 594 runs, respectively.

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MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni was named fourth by Shastri in his list of five greatest Indian cricketers. Under Dhoni, India won its first ODI World Cup in 28 years in 2011. In the final, he scored 91*(79) and won the Player of the Match Award.

Dhoni's shrewd captaincy in the Champions Trophy 2013 played a ley role in India's win. Apart from that, he also kept wickets well and inspired many youngsters to take up cricket.

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Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev was a revolutionary cricketer, whose role in India becoming a cricket-crazy nation was massive. The legendary cricketer was arguably the best performer in the ODI World Cup in 1983, where they beat the favorites West Indies in the final.

In the tournament, Kapil scored 303 runs at an average of over 60 and a strike rate of over 108. He also claimed 12 wickets at an average of 20 and an economy of under 3 with an inspirational leadership.

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Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar remains the highest run-scorer in ODIs. The star player is one of the greatest cricketers of all-time and is among the greatest batters the sport has ever seen. ODI was arguably his best format, where he performed well in the ICC tournaments.

Tendulkar performed well in three World Cups. In 1996, he was the leading run-scorer with a tally of 523 runs. In 2003, he scored 673 runs, which remained the highest for a batter till 2023. In 2011, he was the secod highest run-scorer of the tournament.

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is aruably the greatest player ODIs has ever seen. Be it his performances in the ODI World Cup or the Champions Trophy or his role in some of India's major ICC title wins, his role is huge.

Kohli won the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy twice, in 2013 and 2025. In the ODI World Cup 2023, Virat scored a whopping 765 runs, the most for a batter in a single edition of the World Cup and won the Player of the Tournament Award.