5 greatest cricketers of Indian origin who played for other teams

1. Rohan Kanhai (West Indies)

Rohan Kanhai batting in a Test match

Widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world in the sixties, Rohan Bholalall Kanhai is also a part of the famed Indo-Guyanese stable of West Indies cricket players.

Indeed, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has stated that Kanhai was the greatest batsman he had ever seen, and named his son after the Caribbean master.

Kanhai’s batting style contained plenty of unorthodox shots; notable among them was the ‘falling hook’, where he finished his follow-through lying on his back.

He was also an occasional wicket-keeper, and a handy medium-pacer. It was his steady half century in the World Cup final of 1975 that paved the way for a blazing innings by Clive Lloyd; at 40, the grey-haired batsman still had plenty of gas left in his tank.

He became captain of the West Indies after Garry Sobers, infusing more determination and resolve in the team, and also became the squad’s first ever national cricket coach in 1992.