Sportskeeda's Top 50 Indian Test cricketers of all-time (10-1)

#9 Bhagwath Chandrasekhar

Bhagwath Chandrasekhar single-handedly won several matches for India outside the subcontinent

1971 Oval, 1976 Auckland, 1976 Port of Spain, 1977 Sydney and 1978 Melbourne - These are not some random cricket matches dug out in an attempt to evince a blast from the past. The five aforementioned occurrences were some of the memorable Test victories in Indian history and they were all engineered by Bhagwath Chandrasekhar. On first glimpse, his career statistics may not evoke a feeling of awe like some of the other big names. However, in terms of match-winning capacity, very few Indian bowlers have been able to match Chandra's sheer genius.

Extra Cover: The forgotten gem - Why Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's legacy is worth cherishing

Handicapped by a life-altering bout of polio during childhood, Chandrasekhar converted his weakness into strength. Armed with an unusual action, he served an ethereal concoction of leg-breaks, top-spinners and googlies from a weakened bowling hand. While he could go for runs on certain occasions when well-set batsmen got on top of him, his ability to deliver game-changing spells from out of nowhere made him the most dangerous spinner in the illustrious quartet. No wonder, skipper MAK Pataudi was reluctant to go into any Test match without the presence of 'Chandra'.

Career Span: 1964-1979

Statistics: 242 wickets from 58 matches at an average of 29.74 and strike-rate of 65.9 with 16 five-wicket hauls and 2 ten-wicket hauls