Indian batsmen who were at the top of the rankings for the highest period

Modified Oct 31, 2016 15:53 IST

Top Indian batsman Gundappa Viswanath, circa 1985. (Photo by Adrian Murrell/Getty Images) — Vishwanath was the first Indian batsman to climb to the top spot

#3 Dilip Vengsarkar (December 1987 to November 1988)

Nov 1988: Portrait of Dilip Vengsarkar of India during the First Test match against New Zealand at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, India. India won the match by 172 runs. \ Mandatory Credit: Adrian Murrell/Allsport — Vengsarkar reign at the top lasted for 11 months

Vengsarkar was actually the first batsman in the world to be officially acknowledged as the top-ranked batter as the Deloitte Rankings – the precursor to the ICC Rankings – were introduced that very year.

Quite astonishingly two years before moving up to the top spot in the batting world Vengsarkar was 26th on the ladder. 1986 was a magical year for the Mumbai batsman which propelled him to the top 10.

And he did not stop there, he continued with his merriment at the crease and on Boxing Day of 1987, he moved to the top spot removing Australian legend Allan Border.

Vengsarkar’s reign lasted for 11 months before he was replaced by Javed Miandad.