Top 10 Iconic Indian cricketers and their home states

Sachin-Tendulkar,-Sunil-Gavaskar-and-Rohit-Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)

In 1932, when India played their first international Test match against England at the iconic Lord’s, no one thought that the sub-continent side would emerge as the biggest powerhouse in world cricket. The unprecedented evolution of Indian cricket only became possible due to the perseverance and diligence of its players.

It’s witnessed how India got its several legends from its different states. Back in the 1970s, Maharashtra produced Sunil Gavaskar, who became a prominent name in the cricketing world with his scintillating batting shows for India while in the 1990s, the nation’s southern province Andhra Pradesh also delivered Mohammad Azharuddin, who came out as the first Indian captain to lead an international side in more than 200 matches. After 92 years of India’s excellent journey in world cricket, avid Indian cricket team supporters must know from which part of India their distinguished Indian cricketers originate.

Here are the top 10 iconic Indian cricketers and their home states:

10. Ravichandran Ashwin- Tamil Nadu

Ravi Ashwin. (Pic source: RANDY BROOKS/AFP)

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is counted among the best Test players of all time. The right-arm bowler is the second-most successful bowler for India in cricket’s longest format, picking up 490 wickets in 179 innings of 95 matches. The veteran is also the second-highest wicket-taker for Team India across all formats.

Ashwin hails from the land of Tamil Nadu which gave India its first Test captain CK Nayudu and  Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who opened innings for the team from 1981-1992. In December 2006, he debuted for Tamil Nadu against Haryana in a 2006-07 Ranji Trophy game.

9. Suresh Raina-  Uttar Pradesh

Former India player Suresh Raina bid adieu to international cricket in 2019 but his batting is still remembered by his fans. Serving India from 2005-2018, he helped the team win a lot of games with his extraordinary batting brilliance. In India’s second World Cup title win in 2011, Raina played a vital part with his batting in the knockout matches against Australia and Pakistan.

The southpaw ended his international career in 2019 with 5615 One-Day International (ODI) runs in 194 innings of 226 matches. In T20 Internationals (T20Is), he accumulated 1605 runs in 78 matches. He is also the first Indian player to notch up a ton in cricket’s shortest format.

Raina was born in a Kashmiri pandit family residing in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad. The left-handed batter grew up as a cricketer while playing for Guru Gobind Singh Sports College in Lucknow. At the age of 16, he made his first-class debut for Uttar Pradesh in the 2003-04 Ranji Trophy.

8. Harbhajan Singh- Punjab

Harbhajan Singh 2010. (Photo Source: LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCH/AFP via Getty Images)

Former off-break spinner Harbhajan Singh was known for making batters dance to his tunes. Representing India for 18 years in international cricket, he grabbed 707 wickets in 365 games across all forms of the sport. With these numbers, he is the third-highest wicket-taker for Team India.

Harbhajan was born in Punjab’s Jalandhar into a Sikh family. In late 1997, he made his first-class debut for the state team against Haryana. Following his retirement, he has been serving Punjab as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since October 2022. He was nominated by Aam Aadmi Party along with four other candidates from the Punjab province.

7. Kapil Dev- Haryana

Kapil Dev. (Photo Source: Trevor Jones/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)

Kapil Dev, who won the first World Cup trophy for India in 1983, was born in Chandigarh which is the joint capital of two states Punjab and Haryana. He debuted for Haryana in India’s domestic circle in 1975. Before getting his debut cap for India in 1978, he delivered some notable performances to his state team in first-class cricket. In the 1977-78 Ranji Trophy season, he took an eight-wicket haul against Services in the first innings.  

The World Cup-winning skipper hung up his boots in 1994 after playing more than 350 international games for India. In Tests, he took 434 wickets in 227 innings of 131 matches and ended up as the highest wicket-taking bowler for India. Anil Kumble and Ravichandran Ashwin shattered his record later but he is still the pacer with the most wickets for India in red-ball cricket. 

6. Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble- Karnataka

Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid (Photo Source: Twitter)

Rahul Dravid, also known as Mr Dependable and The Wall, is currently serving India as a head coach. During his playing days, he was known for wrecking opponents with his calm and composed batting attitude. The right-handed batter served Team India for 15 years from 1996 to 2011 and during this period, he played an enormous role in making the team a formidable force in international cricket.

Along with Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid is the only Indian batter who has scored more than 10000 runs in both ODIs and Tests. He was born in Indore in Madhya Pradesh but was raised in Bengaluru, Karnataka. Before becoming an international cricketer, he represented Karnataka in under-15, under-17, and under-19 levels. In 1991, he got a chance to debut for the state in the Ranji Trophy.

Before Dravid, leg-spinner Anil Kumble also came from Karnataka. He was born and brought up in the state’s metropolitan city Bengaluru. Kumble made his India debut in April 1990 but it was February 1999 when he hit the headlines for his aggressive bowling against Pakistan in a Test match played in Delhi.

Grabbing a 10-wicket haul in the second innings of the game, he became the first bowler to pick up all 10 wickets of a team in an innings of cricket’s longest format. In 2008, he retired from international cricket with 619 wickets in 132 Tests. With these numbers, he is the fourth-most successful bowler in red-ball cricket.

5. Sourav Ganguly- West Bengal

Sourav Ganguly (Photo Source: Twitter)

Sourav Ganguly can be considered the player who transformed Indian cricket with his captaincy. It was under his leadership, that India started playing a fierce brand of cricket on foreign soil. In 2008, he brought the curtains down to his glorious career with 18433 runs in 421 international matches. 

The India southpaw comes from a prestigious Bengali family from Kolkata, West Bengal. His fans also call him the ‘Prince of Kolkata’. In 2005, when he was stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the team due to his feud with then-then Indian team coach Greg Chappell, cricket fans from his state displayed their unwavering support for him.

4. Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah- Gujarat

Ravindra-Jadeja-and-Jasprit-Bumrah. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Gujarat has given some talented players to Team India with Ravindra Jadeja one of the most extraordinary among them. The veteran has been playing for India since 2009 and is currently one of the most disciplined players who represents the team in all three formats. His fitness is something that makes him special in the side. 

Jadeja was born in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in a poor family. His cricketing journey wasn’t easy as his father used to work as a watchman for a private security company. He overcame numerous difficulties to become a successful cricketer for India. It was his diligence and courage that helped him achieve his dream of becoming a cricketer.

Like Jadeja, current India’s fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah also comes from Gujarat. The pace bowling sensation was born in Ahmedabad in a Sikh family. Bumrah’s father passed away when he was only five years old and he was brought up by his mother, who worked as a school teacher in his home town. Currently, the Gujarat-born player is one of the best pacers in international cricket after several years of hard work.  

3. MS Dhoni- Jharkhand

MS-Dhoni. (Photo Source: X/Twitter)

India’s eastern state Jharkhand gave one of the biggest legends MS Dhoni to the country. The wicketkeeper batter won five ICC trophies for India with his captaincy. As a skipper, he led the team to the T20 World Cup title win in 2007. Later, under his tenure, the team clinched a couple of Test maces and made history.

In 2011, he guided India to the World Cup trophy victory and became the only Indian captain after Kapil Dev to win the distinguished trophy. The legendary player called time on his international career in August 2020, after serving India for 15 years. 

The Ranchi-born cricketer accumulated more than 17000 runs for India across all formats in his vast international career. In January 2019, he became the fifth Indian cricketer to notch up more than 10000 runs. The former India player is still active for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and his large fanbase can be witnessed during every season of the cash-rich T20 league.

2. Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, and Gautam Gambhir- Delhi

Virat-Kohli,-Virender-Sehwag-and-Gautam-Gambhir. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Delhi has produced a lot of cricketers for India but one who became huge in international cricket is Virat Kohli, who has been active in Team India since 2008. He is the second-leading run-getter in ODIs, with 13848 runs in 292 matches. In November 2023, he surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries in ODI cricket and became the first batter to smash 50 tons in the format. 

Before Kohli, Virender Sehwag came from Delhi and made some notable records with his bat. The fierce opener is the only India batter who hit two triple-hundreds in Test cricket. In October 2015, he bid adieu to international cricket after serving India for 14 years from 1999 to 2013.

Another batting legend who came from Delhi was Gautam Gambhir, who played an enormous role in helping India bag the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup trophies. In the finals of both tournaments, it was he who became the highest run-scorer for India and guided the team to scintillating victories. The southpaw said goodbye to all forms of cricket in December 2018. Currently, he is the Member of Parliament (MP) from the East Delhi constituency.

1. Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, and Rohit Sharma- Maharashtra 

Sachin-Tendulkar,-Sunil-Gavaskar-and-Rohit-Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Maharashtra has never compromised in giving quality players to India. Vijay Hazare, who guided India to its first-ever Test triumph in 1952 against England in Madras (now Chennai), was born in Sangli, which comes under Maharashtra now. Similarly in the 1970s, Sunil Gavaskar emerged from the state and later became the first international cricketer to score more than 10000 runs in Tests. 

After Gavaskar’s retirement in 1987, Mumbai’s Sachin Tendulkar broke into international cricket in 1989. He shattered several records with his bat and emerged as the biggest cricketing legend. In his 24-year Test career, he scored 15921 runs with 51 hundreds in 200 matches and ended up as the leading run-getter in the format. Similarly in ODIs, he is still the highest run-scorer with 18426 runs in 463 contests.  

In the 21st century, Rohit Sharma became a huge star from Maharashtra for Team India. The Nagpur-born player is one of the six Indian players to amass more than 10000 runs in ODIs. He is the only batter who has hit three double-hundreds in ODIs. His massive score of 264 against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in 2014 makes him the highest individual scorer in an ODI match.