10 cricketers whose reputation became larger than their teams'

There are superstars in every sport played anywhere around the world. Even cricket is no stranger to superstars as there have been plenty of them in the history of the game. These individuals have excelled in one or more departments and have given their respective teams several moments to cherish.While the success for many of these superstars went hand in hand with their team's success, there have been a few who built reputations which superseded that of their teams. Here are 10 popular cricketers who went on to become more important than the teams that they represented.

#10 Yuvraj Singh - Punjab

There are also instances in domestic cricket where certain players have held a reputation which is beyond that of their teams. The most recent one which has come into focus is Yuvraj Singhs image for the Punjab side in Indias domestic circuit.

Yuvraj did not play too often for Punjab when he was a regular for the Indian team. However, ever since he went out of favour in the national side, he has started playing for his state side on a consistent basis.

As expected, the southpaw has much more weightage in terms of popularity than his team and they come in the news only when Yuvraj plays well for them. Although batsmen like Mandeep Singh have been far more consistent, it is Yuvraj Singh who hogs the limelight all the time.

#9 Ryan Ten Doeschate - Netherlands

Netherlands do not have too much to savour from their sojourn in international cricket so far apart from Ryan Ten Doeschate. The allrounder, who has been his teams best batsman for a long time, easily has a greater reputation than the Netherlands team.

This has not only to do with what he has done in the international game, but is also about his performance in several domestic T20 leagues and county cricket. Ten Doeschate is the only player from Netherlands to have such popularity, the only one close to him being pacer Dirk Nannes, who also played for Australia.

#8 Andy Flower - Zimbabwe

Andy Flower is the greatest player to have represented Zimbabwe in international cricket. Flowers reputation in the game was much larger than that of his team as his exploits matched up to some of the best batsmen of his time.

There were other greats like Heath Streak in the side, but the wicket-keeper batsmanwas their biggest superstar and dominated many a big opposition with his batting prowess. Even though he retired a long time back, the Zimbabwean team is still struggling to find a batsman who can match up to half of Andy Flowers calibre.

Most of Zimbabwes glory days in their cricket history can be attributed to the exploits of the great left-handed batsman.

#7 Shakib Al Hasan - Bangladesh

Bangladesh cricket has not had a bigger superstar than allrounder Shakib Al Hasan. A left-arm spinner and left-handed batsman by trade, Shakib has been the mainstay of the Bangladeshi team in both batting and bowling.

Although there have been other popular players like Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah, none of them has quite the reputation to match that of Shakib Al Hasan. The all-rounder has not only done well for his national team but has also been an asset for his respective franchises in various domestic T20 leagues.

Despite the emergence of talented youngsters, Shakib is the only player whom opposition team fear most. This goes to show that he has a reputation which is greater than the Bangladesh team itself.

#6 Brian Lara - West Indies

Brian Lara is easily one of the greatest icons West Indies cricket has given to the cricketing world. Lara came into the team at a time when most of the legendary West Indian batsmen had already walked into the sunset.

He took up the mantle of being his sides premier batsman and stayed the most important player in the West Indies unit for the duration of his career. While there were other good batsmen in the team, Brian Laras reputation was way beyond the reach of his entire team.

Laras popularity was similar ot that of his greatest rival Sachin Tendulkar.However, the only difference between the two remained that India did manage to find heroes other than Tendulkar, but the West Indies team were unfortunate in this regard.

#5 Shahid Afridi - Pakistan

Love him or hate him, Shahid Afridi has been the most popular cricketer in the Pakistan team for years now. In fact, there have been several occasions in his long career where his reputation has rivalled that of his entire team and even surpassed it.

Irrespective of whether he is performing well or badly, Afridi is easily the most talked about superstar in Pakistani cricket. The hard-hitting all-rounder has managed to build such an image despite the presence of other great players like Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez.

With Afridi currently in the twilight of his career, it will be interesting to see if anyone from the existing Pakistani lot is able to take his place once he walks away.

#4 Kevin Pietersen - England

The fact that Kevin Pietersens name does the rounds whenever England are playing, despite being on the receiving end of a permanent snub from the ECB, is the biggest proof of him having a bigger reputation than the team.

Pietersen has been one of the most controversial characters of all time, not only in English cricket but across the cricketing globe. No doubt he is an exceptional batsman, but his multiple controversies have played an equal role in enhancing his popularity.

The South African-born former England batsmans fame began to grow due to his involvement in various T20 leagues all over the world. Kevin Pietersen may never play for England again, but he will surely remain among their most popular names ever.

#3 AB de Villiers - South Africa

AB de Villiers is arguably the biggest superstar in world cricket today. And in the past few years, he has built a reputation which has managed to surpass that of the South African team, particularly in the ODI format.

The current South Africa team has a lot of exceptional players like Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and Faf du Plessis, who keep on producing the goods for them regularly. However, de Villiers has catapulted himself above all of them and has become the biggest thing for the Proteas.

Wherever the South Africans play all over the world, there is just one man everyone wants to see,AB de Villiers. And going by the way in which he is breaking records, things are only going to get larger for the great batsman.

#2 Chris Gayle - West Indies

Whether he is playing for national side or not, Chris Gayles reputation has grown up to become way larger than his home team. One reason for this has surely been his exploits in various domestic T20 leagues all over the world and his lone hand in most West Indies victories.

On the negative side, though, his issues with the West Indies Cricket Board and the various other controversies surrounding him have also added to his reputation. What has also helped Gaylehave an upper hand over the West Indies team is their indifferent performance in his absence from the side.

In fact, the last time West Indies made a big impact on the international cricketing scene was the 2012 ICC World Twenty20, where Chris Gayle had led the way for them.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar - India

Without a shadow of doubt, Sachin Tendulkar has been the biggest name to have ever played cricket for India. Despite a lot of other great cricketers having represented the nation, Tendulkar's reputation has been unmatched.

While the master batsman remained the most important player in the Indian team for the duration of his career, he used to be the personification of the Indian team in the 1990s. It had reached a stage when cricket in India was all about just Sachin Tendulkar and his reputation surpassed that of his team by a huge margin.

Things did change quite a bit at the turn of the millennium as Tendulkar shared space with some of the other stars in the team, but he still managed to rule the roost to a large extent.