Famous cricket player of India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni

• Famously known as the Pepsi Youth icon, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is also the most successful captain of the Indian cricket team and has brought home many trophy’s under his captaincy.
• Mahendra made his debut in 2004 and had played 176 matches up till now.
• Dhoni scored 5803 runs which include 7 centuries and 37 fifties with 183 (not out) being his best. Not to forget Dhoni is the only batsman these days to have a batting average of almost 50 (49.17).
• Dhoni not only is a consistent batsman but is an extra ordinary wicket keeper as well, and has taken 173 catches and has been the reason for 56 stumpings in just 173 matches.
• Dhoni has played once in an ICC world cup i.e. 2007. There is no denying the fact that he performed well and above average but the fact that the Indian side couldn’t go till the super 8 round, conceals his performance.
• He has been awarded the ICC player of the year twice in a row (2008 and 2009) and under his leadership the Indian cricket team brought home the T-twenty world cup of 2007 and the CB series of 2008. He was also the captain of the winning team of the IPL.
• With his spectacular performance in the practice match against NZ, and past match records the Indians are quite confident that he is in his best form and will certainly keep the world cup trophy in the country.

Most half centuries in cricket World Cups

Likewise centuries, scoring a 50 runs are always crucial in a cricket match. Once the batsman is half way through, his confidence level pops up and he strives to record a century. However, sometimes it happens he does not manage to reach the 100 mark and gets out. Despite that, the significance of scoring 50 plus runs are always significant to turn a match into one team’s favour. Here is a list of most fifties scored by assorted batsmen whose half centuries has mostly set course of the tournament in their countries’ favour.

• 1983 Cricket World Cup: Vivian Richards (West Indies) made 2 half centuries
• 1987 Cricket World Cup: David Boon (Australia) scored 5 fifties of which 2 consecutive half centuries in semi final vs. Pakistan (65 runs) and final vs. England (75 runs)
• 1992 Cricket World Cup: Sachin Tendulkar (India) made 3 half centuries.
• 1996 Cricket World Cup: Sachin Tendulkar (India) scored 3 fifties
• 2003 Cricket World Cup: Sachin Tendulkar (India) made 7 half centuries
• 2007 Cricket World Cup: Scott Styris (Australia) scored 5 fifties.

Most centuries record holders- Brief history of World Cup

Here are the record holders of centuries in the World Cup event history:

1975 Cricket World Cup – Glenn Turner (New Zealand) made two centuries, 171 runs not out against  East Africa and 114 runs vs India.

1979 Cricket World Cup- Vivian Richards* (West Indies) made 138 runs against England

1983 Cricket World Cup – Kapil Dev* (India) 175 runs against Zimbabwe

1987 Cricket World Cup – Geoff Marsh (Australia) scored two centuries, 110 runs against India, 126 runs   not out against New Zealand.

1992 Cricket World Cup – Rameez Raja (Pakistan) made two centuries, 102 runs not out against West  Indies, 119 runs not out against New Zealand

1996 Cricket World Cup – Mark Waugh (Australia) scored three centuries which are 130 runs vs Kenya, 126 runs vs India and 110 runs vs New Zealand.

1999 Cricket World Cup -  Rahul Dravid* (India) made two centuries, 104 runs not out vs Kenya and 145 runs vs Srilanka

2003 Cricket World Cup – Saurav Ganguly (India) scored three centuries, 112 runs not ou Namibia, 107 runs not out vs Kenya and 111 runs vs Kenya

2007 Cricket World Cup – Mathew Hayden (Australia) made three centuries, 101 vs South Africa, 158 vs West Indies and 103 vs New Zealand

*Other players in the tournament also scored same number of centuries but the batsman is selected on number of runs scored over and above the 100 mark in a match.

Top ten captains of India in test cricket

Kapil Dev achieved a lot of success with the Indian team. It was under his captaincy that India started to flourish and have since then maintained their position. He proved to be a very competitive captain.

Next came Mohammad Azharuddin who was again a very cool and relaxed personality. He achieved a lot of fame as his stint of being the captain of team India.

In test cricket, Ganguly proved to be the mentor for all the younger players of the current team, and that same team has taken India to newer heights. And today India is the number one test side in the world. The captains of India have always known their responsibility and have never backed out in any game.

And currently under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, they are doing very well. Top ten captains of India in test cricket are:

1. MS Dhoni
2. SC Ganguly
3. R Dravid
4. SM Gavaskar
5. M Azharuddin
6. AL Wadekar
7. A Kumble
8. Kapil Dev
9. BS Bedi
10. Nawab Of Pataudi