5 short cricketers who went on to become all-time greats 

While international sport continues in its ever-evolving shift towards athletes of a tal stature, cricket is sustaining its unique capacity to deliver world-class short competitors onto the global stage with the latest additions to the list in Temba Bavuma, Mushfiqur Rahim and Parthiv Patel. People tend to think that the greatest cricketers are tall and well-built like the West Indian cricketers in the 1970s and 1980s, or the well-built Australian pace-battery.

But there have been some cricketers who weren’t tall, but went on to become all-time greats. The following list features 5 cricketers who proved that height has nothing to do with ability, skill and talent.

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#5 Gundappa Vishwanath – 5’3’

Sunil Gavaskar’s (who was also short) brother-in-law Gundappa Vishwanath was one of the most elegant batsmen India has ever produced. A batsman of short stature (5’ 3’’), Vishy (as he was commonly known) was a master of using his wrists.

He was exquisite in his strokeplay. He was equally adept against pace and spin - playing late, using the depth of the crease and using his feet against spin. Even though his numbers aren’t as good, he was as crucial as Sunil Gavaskar was to the side in the 1970s.

Right from a century on debut, Vishwanath came good when it mattered the most and performed when the chips were down.

A few memorable ones being an unbeaten, match-winning 97 against a rampaging Andy Roberts at Madras in 1974-75, a match-winning 124 out of a team total 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 green top in 1975-76.

Vishwanath often excelled on tough pitches. Also, he always played the game in its true spirit. He disputed the umpire’s decision only once in his career in the Golden Jubilee match in 1979-80.

#4 Alvin Kallicharran – 5’4’’

Alvin Kallicharran

Alvin Kalicharan like many left-handers was known for his balance and elegance. Scoring two hundreds in his first two Tests, Kallicharran went onto to establish himself in the legendary West Indies team of the 1970s. In fact, he was one of the shortest players in that team.

Kallicharran scored a staggering 114 centuries (including List A and First-class) in his career including a double hundred in a one-day (List A) game. One of his best and most remembered innings came in the first World Cup in 1975, when he launched a brutal assault on Dennis Lillee where he scored 35 runs of 100 successive balls off Lillee (4,4,4,4,4,1,4,6,0,4).

The bare-headed Kallicharran, little more than 5’ 4’’ finished with an average of 44.43 (4399 runs in 66 Tests). One fact that stands out is he played more than 500 first-class games scoring more than 32,000 runs and almost 400 List A games before he retired in from all forms of cricket in 1990 (He retired from international cricket in 1981).

#3 Sunil Gavaskar – 5’5’’

Sunil Gavaskar was originally named as the 'Little Master'.

Arguably, Sunil Gavaskar is one of the biggest names in Indian cricket and one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time. Gavaskar was a mere 5 feet 5 inches tall but the way he tackled some of the deadliest bowlers was brilliant.

His game was built on a near perfect technique and enormous levels of concentration. He had a solid and compact defence which was virtually unbreachable.

He was the first player scale the 10k mountain (10,000 runs in Tests) and was the first to reach 34 Test hundreds.

Of his 34 Test centuries, 13 of them came against the fearsome West Indies. Post-retirement he has served as an ICC Match Referee, BCCI President, chairman of ICC Cricket Committee, commentator and analyst. He till date remains a reliable and renowned voice in the game.

#2 Muttiah Muralitharan – 5’5’’

The greatest spinner of all time, Muttiah Muralitharan.

Skill, magic and determination are few worlds which clearly define a Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan. Even with 800 Test wickets (most by a bowler in Tests) and 534 (again most by a bowler in ODIs), Muralitharan is one of the nicest guys to have played cricket.

A match-winner who can turn the game and run through a batting line-up, Muralitharan generally weaved magic with a cricket ball.

He has flummoxed generations of batsmen with his prodigious spin, subtle variations and often been a one-man army for the Sri Lankan bowling.

He took a struggling cricketing nation, and, aided by some excellent teammates, placed it firmly on the established high peaks. The average of 22.72 and strike-rate of 55, both of which are audacious for a spinner, Muralitharan was perhaps Sri Lanka’s greatest match-winner.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar – 5’5’’

Sachin Tendulkar was a masterful batsman who was technically the best player of his generation.

It is no secret that Sachin Tendulkar wanted to be a fast bowler when he started his cricketing career. But it was Dennis Lillee who advised him against it, due to his height and the rejection made him shift his focus to batting. And ever since his debut as a 16-year old in 1989, he has been in the spotlight.

More than 34,000 international runs with a staggering 100 centuries, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was the synonym for batting. His records are endless and a few of them might never be broken as well. He has been the most complete batsman of his time, the most prolific run-getter of all time, and arguably the biggest cricket icon the game has ever known.

He was dominant against all opponents. He could score all around the wicket, off both front foot and back, could tune his technique to suit every condition, temper his game to suit every situation, and made runs in all parts of the world in all conditions. He often carried the entire batting line-up on his shoulders like a one-man army.

Sachin even after retiring from all forms of cricket is still one of the most sought-after personalities and the aura has just continued and he still is one of the most worshipped cricketers on this planet.