Over the years, the Wisden Cricket Almanac has announced a list of exclusive cricketers such as annual Wisden Cricketers of the Year , Five Cricketers of the Century, 40 best cricketers in the world in 2002 and now 40 leading cricketers in international cricket in 2004.
And in this exclusive list, except in the Five Cricketers of the Century, as many as 17 Indian cricketers appear. The most notable omission from this exclusive club is skipper Saurav Ganguly.
Details of the Indian players who have been named by Wisden in their exclusive list of players from time to time:
Wisden's Cricketers of the Year (15):
| Name |
Year |
| Iftikhar Ali Pataudi |
1932 |
| C K Nayudu |
1933 |
| Vijay Merchant |
1937 |
| Vinoo Mankad |
1947 |
| Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi |
1968 |
| Bhagwat Chandrashekar |
1972 |
| Sunil Gavaskar |
1980 |
| Kapil Dev |
1983 |
| Mohinder Amarnath |
1984 |
| Dilip Vengsarkar |
1987 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin |
1991 |
| Anil Kumble |
1996 |
| Sachin Tendulkar |
1997 |
| Rahul Dravid |
2000 |
| V.V.S.Laxman |
2002 |
Among 40 best cicketers in the world in 2002 (6):
The all time greats -Sachin Tendulkar
The almost great - Rahul Dravid
The merely excellent - Anil Kumble
The men of the moment - V.V.S.Laxman
The coming men - Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag
Among the 40 leading cricketers in the world in 2004 (5):
Sachin Tendulkar
Rahul Dravid
Anil Kumble
V.V.S.Laxman
Virender Sehwag
However none of the Indians figures in the exclusive list of Five Cricketers of the Century:
Donald Bradman
Garfield Sobers
Jack Hobbs
Shane Warne
Vivian Richards