Graeme Smith made his Test debut for South Africa against Australia in Cape Town in 2002. Batting at number three, the left-hander scored his first half-century in the second innings of the match. Soon he established himself as a prolific run scorer and as an occasional handy off spin bowler.His ability to dominate the opposition bowlers is well-known. During the tour of England in 2003, Smith scored double centuries consecutively, 277 runs at Edgbaston and 259 at Lord’s. In an ODI against Pakistan, Smith hit 6 fours off an over. The tall southpaw has earned the admiration from all quarters for setting up colossal partnerships with his teammates especially with Herschelle Gibbs. At the youthful age of 22, Smith replaced Shaun Pollock as the captain of South Africa following the unsuccessful World Cup campaign in 2003. Until then, he had very few Tests and ODIs to his credit. His initial stint of captaincy was not exactly superior. In 2004, the South African side lost to India and Sri Lanka in Test series. In an unforgettable match, Smith captained his side to win against Australia in an ODI in 2006 where the Proteas chased down a mammoth target of 434 with a ball to spare. Smith scored 90 off 55 balls in this match. At his first World Cup in 2007, Smith led his team to the semifinals. Though they were defeated by the Cup favourites Australia in the crucial tie, Smith had scored consistently throughout the tournament amassing 443 runs. With time, Smith has honed and proved his leadership skills. His accolades include being named Wisden Cricketer of the Year 2004.

Full name: Shane Keith Shane Warne
Born September :13, 1969, Ferntree Gully, Victoria

Major teams Australia, Hampshire, ICC World XI, Rajasthan Royals, Victoria
Nickname Shane Warney
Playing role Bowler
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Legbreak googly
Height 1.83 m

Shane Warne made his first-class cricket debut in 1990-91, taking 0/61 and 1/41 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. With Australia searching for a leg spin bowler for its Test team, Shane Warne was selected in the Australia B team which toured Zimbabwe in September 1991. His best performance was 7/52 in a four-day match. Back home, he took 3/14 and 4/42 for Australia A against the West Indies in December 1991, and was rushed into the team for the Third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground a week later.




At first there were nerves and chubbiness. Then came wild soaring legbreaks, followed by fame and flippers. For a long while there were women, then a bookmaker, then diet pills, then more women - and headlines, always headlines. Now he has come out the other end, his bluff and bluster and mischief and innocence somehow intact. The man who in 2000 was rated among the five greatest cricketers of the 20th century was, in 2006, bowling better than ever.

He took a Test hat-trick, won the Man-of-the-Match prize in a World Cup final and was the subject of seven books. He was the first cricketer to reach 700 Test wickets. He swatted more runs than any other Test player without making a hundred, and was probably the wiliest captain Australia never had. His ball that gazoodled Mike Gatting in 1993, bouncing outside leg stump and cuffing off, is unanimously esteemed the most famous in history. He revived legspin, thought to be extinct, and is now pre-eminent in a game so transformed that we sometimes wonder where the next champion fast bowlers will come from.

For all that, Shane Warne's greatest feats are perhaps those of the last couple of years of his career. Returning in 2004 from a 12-month hiatus for swallowing forbidden diuretics, he swept aside 26 Sri Lankan batsmen in three Tests, and the following year scalped a world record 96 victims - a stunning 24 more than in his show-stopping 1993 - and still missed out on the Allan Border Medal. Forty of those were Englishmen in what sometimes appeared to be a lone stand in a thrilling Ashes series. At the end he was helped by his stockpile of straight balls: a zooter, slider, toppie and back-spinner, one that drifted in, one that sloped out, and another that didn't budge. Yet he seldom got his wrong'un right and rarely landed his flipper. More than ever he relied on his two oldest friends: excruciating accuracy and an exquisite legbreak, except that he controlled the degree of spin - and mixed it - at will. Like the great classical painters, he stumbled upon the art of simplicity. His bowling was never simpler, nor more effective, nor lovelier to look at.

Affectionately called ‘Mahi’, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the super cricketers to have rocked the Indian cricket history. Noticeable for his shoulder length hair, Dhoni is increasingly becoming a popular youth icon in India. He has made a big impact in and outside the cricketing world. His power-packed performances, on-field agility, panache for bikes, etc al have had fans, especially girls, swooning all over. Hailing from the state of Jharkhand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his debut in the end of 2004 and has since been a regular in the Indian national team. An aggressive batsman and secure wicketkeeper, Dhoni has changed the perception of ‘gentleman’s game’. He, along with a few other new-age cricketers, has shown how to give an eye for an eye. Having played 120 one-day internationals, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has an impressive average of 47 and a swashbuckling strike rate of 92. His capability of audacious strokeplay at the time of need have made him one of the key players in Indian team. Dhoni has ravaged the reputations of the world’s best bowling attacks with his powerful and daredevil hits. This is the only way he knows of playing cricket Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s moment of reckoning came in a match against Pakistan, where he scored a dazzling 148 runs. He then went on to crack a superb 183 not out against Sri Lanka at Jaipur. These knocks are simply unforgettable for all those who witnessed them. His wicketkeeping has won him accolades of late. Dhoni has displayed exemplary skills when keeping wickets to world-class bowlers.