4 unsung heroes of Indian Cricket

India is the land of cricket and over the years this country has produced some extraordinary cricketers. While a lot of them have got their share of praise and appreciation, a lot of them have been overshadowed by their fellow players.

Here we take a look at the five unsung heroes of Indian Cricket.

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#1 Roger Binny

A utility bowler and a useful lower order batsman, Binny played a major role in the rise of Indian Cricket

Roger Binny, an all-rounder par excellence, played a key role in India's 1983 Cricket World Cup win by taking 18 wickets in the tournament, also ending up as the highest wicket-taker. He repeated his heroics in the 1985 World Series Cricket Championship in Australia by taking 17 scalps.

A utility bowler and a useful lower order batsman, Binny played a major role in the rise of Indian Cricket but is seldom remembered for his heroics. In the 1983 World Cup, Kapil Dev took the limelight for his fearless batting and captaincy whereas in the 1985 Cricket Championship, Ravi Shastri was named the Man of the Series, which again shifted the attention from Binny.

He retired in 1987 after playing 27 Tests and 72 ODIs for India.

#2 VVS Laxman

Such was his talent and class that on his day, his strokeplay was second to none

VVS Laxman, fondly called Very Very Special, was an Indian batting maestro who was a part of the famous Indian batting quartet Fab Four. He is majorly remembered for his heroic innings of 281 in the famous 2001 Eden Garden Test Match against Australia, which is considered to be one of the greatest Test innings by many experts.

Such was his talent and class that on his day, his strokeplay was second to none. He could play the same ball on either side of the ground with ease. Despite playing 134 Test matches and 86 ODIs for India, he never got a chance to play in an ICC Cricket World Cup. He often played in the shadow of the great Sachin Tendulkar and had to bat at No. 5 or below in Test matches. VVS

retired from International Cricket in 2012.

#3 Rahul Dravid

Dravid always came forward when the team needed him

Rahul Dravid, who was fondly called as the Wall of the Indian cricket, is one of the greatest batsmen of all time. Dravid always came forward when the team needed him, be it keeping the wickets in ODIs so that India could play an extra batsman or opening in some crunch Test matches.

A lot of Dravid's great innings were forgotten or not given much appreciation because a fellow cricketer went on to score more. When he scored a magnificent 95 on his Lord's Test debut, Sourav Ganguly scored a brilliant century.

He was also a great leader and India won a Test series in England and some other crucial series too, but the disappointment of an unfortunate early exit from 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup took over. Had he played for some other country, he would have overshadowed someone else's career there.

This true gentleman of the game retired from International Cricket in 2012 after playing a mammoth 164 Test matches and 344 ODI matches.

#4 Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir in action for India in 2011 ICC World Cup Final

Gautam Gambhir was a regular opener for India from 2007 to 2011, during which he smashed a lot of records along with Delhi teammate Virender Sehwag. He is the only Indian batsman to have scored a century in five consecutive Test matches.

Gambhir played an important role in India's 2007 ICC World Twenty20 win by scoring a crucial 75 runs off 54 balls against Pakistan in the final and in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup win by playing a solid knock of 97 runs from 122 balls in the final against Sri Lanka, but on both the occasions his performances were overshadowed by the heroics of Irfan Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni respectively.

This veteran batsman is currently not a part of Indian squad and plays for Delhi in Ranji Trophy.