Ashwin picks India's greatest-ever cricketer; makes surprise calls on Rohit Sharma , Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni

Mumbai: Former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin crowned legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest Indian cricketer, while making a shock call on Indian batting stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli and placing a surprise opponent against the 'Master Blaster' in the final.

Ashwin was given the task of choosing India's best 16 all-time cricketers in a video by Cricinfo.

During the round of 16, Ashwin picked Sachin, Virat, Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag over Vijay Hazare, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar respectively. On the other half, he picked MS Dhoni over Ravindra Jadeja, despite his "temptation" to go for his long-time partner in spin. He also picked Rahul Dravid, Jasprit Bumrah and Sourav Ganguly over Vinoo Mankad, Anil Kumble and himself.


In the quarterfinals, he picked Sachin over Ganguly and then Kapil, the 1983 WC-winning skipper, over Dravid. In the other two matchups, he delivered two surprises, choosing Sehwag over India's trophy-collecting captain Dhoni and Bumrah over Virat.

The omission of Dhoni despite 17,000+ international runs, winning all ICC titles for India as captain, leading India to number one spot in Tests was surprising. So was that of Virat, who has scored over 28,000 runs (and counting) for India, including 85 centuries and has played a major role in five ICC titles he has won with Team India.

In the semifinals, Ashwin picked Sachin over Sehwag and Bumrah over Kapil, pitting Sachin and Bumrah in the final, with Sachin crowned as winner.

With a staggering 34,357 international runs, Sachin Tendulkar stands as the most prolific batter in cricket history. Throughout his illustrious international career, he rewrote the record books time and again, setting milestones that remain unchallenged to this day.

With his unwavering patience and resilience, the 'Master Blaster' has 200 Test appearances to his name, the most by any player in the format. Tendulkar amassed 15,921 runs, 51 centuries, and 2,058 fours, the most by any player in red-ball cricket.

Revered as India's "God of Cricket," he also became the fastest to 15,000 Test runs, reaching the milestone in just 300 innings, a distinction he holds exclusively.

With a career that spanned over 22 years and 91 days, the 53-year-old has the longest career in ODIs. With a staggering 1,894 runs and nine centuries in 1998, Tendulkar holds the record for the most runs and centuries scored in a single calendar year in the format, a feat that still stands unrivalled.

The undisputed icon, Tendulkar, became the fastest to 18,000 ODI runs, reaching the milestone in just 440 innings. He ended with 18,426 runs and 49 centuries. Much like his landmark achievement in Tests, he stands alone in this exclusive club.

Tendulkar holds the highest number of Player of the Match awards (76), the most runs in a career (34,357), the most fifties (264), the most nineties (28), and the most fours (4,076) across all formats.