SAURAV GANGULY
Born: July 9 1972. Captain. Left-handed batsman, right-arm medium bowler. ODI debut: v West Indies, Brisbane, Jan 1992. 218 matches, 8,255 runs, 19 hundreds, av 42.33, 82 wickets at 35.36. Dominating one-day opener, combative leader who has backed young talent. Quickly sidelined at start of international career in 1991-92, accused of arrogance and poor attitude. Sensational return four years later with two consecutive centuries on Test debut during 1996 England tour. Predominantly off-side player but suspect outside off-stump against sheer pace. Scored 183, the second highest World Cup individual score, v Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1999. Succeeded Sachin Tendulkar as captain in October 2000.
RAHUL DRAVID
Born: Jan 11 1973. Vice-captain. Right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. ODI debut v Sri Lanka, Singapore, April 1996. 196 matches, 6,181 runs, 8 hundreds, av 38.39. Technically accomplished and stylish player rated among the best contemporary Test batsmen. Scored 95 in maiden Test innings, 84 in second. Top scorer of the 1999 World Cup with 461 runs, including a career-best 145 against Sri Lanka at Taunton in a world record 318-run stand with Ganguly (183). Defensive qualities earned him nickname of “The Wall”. Re-launched his one-day career in 2002 by taking over as wicket-keeper.
AJIT AGARKAR
Born: Dec 4 1977. Right-arm fast medium bowler, right-handed batsman. ODI debut: v Australia, Cochin, April 1998. 110 matches, 782 runs, 17.00 average, 166 wickets at 28.73. Nicknamed ‘Bombay Duck’ for dubious record of seven consecutive ducks in Tests against Australia in 2000-1. Quick for someone with a small frame.
SANJAY BANGAR
Born: Oct 11 1972. All-rounder — right-handed batsman, right-arm medium bowler. ODI debut: v England, Chennai, Jan 2002. 11 matches, 161 runs, 17.88 average, five wickets at 58.40. Consistent with both bat and ball for many seasons with Ranji Trophy champions Railways, finally earned an India cap in 2001 from selectors seeking durable Test openers.
MOHAMMAD KAIF
Born: Dec 1 1980. Right-handed batsman. ODI debut: v England, Kanpur, Jan 2002. 37 matches, 717 runs, one hundred, av 32.59. A stylish middle-order batsman, often at his best in a crisis. Brilliant fielder who was key to India’s good one-day showing in 2002. Led India to the under-19 World Cup in Sri Lanka in 2000 but failed in each of his four Tests. Quickly adapted to one-dayers, smashing 87 not out as number seven to lift India to tri-series final win chasing 326 v hosts England in July 2002. Followed up with 111 for his maiden one-day century v Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy.
ANIL KUMBLE
Born: Oct 17 1970. Leg-break bowler. ODI debut: v Sri Lanka, Sharjah, April 1990. 238 matches, 303 wickets, av 29.77, 817 runs, av 10.47. Only one of two men to take all 10 wickets in a Test innings and the only Indian to cross 300 wickets in both forms of the game. Tall, relying mainly on top-spinners rather than sideways movement. Popular player and the key to India’s formidable home record. India’s leading one-day bowler.
DINESH MONGIA
Born: April 17 1977. Left-handed batsman, part-time left-arm spinner. ODI debut v Australia, Pune, Mar 2001. 32 matches, 805 runs, one hundred, 27.75 average. Chosen for World Cup ahead of Vangipurappu Laxman despite recent poor form.
ASHISH NEHRA
Born: April 29 1979, New Delhi. Left-arm fast-medium swing bowler. ODI debut: v Zimbabwe, Harare, June 2001. 30 matches, 30 wickets, av 38.63. Unimpressive Test debut v Sri Lanka in 1999 and axed for more than two years.
PARTHIV PATEL
Born: March 9 1985. Wicket-keeper and left-handed batsman. ODI debut: v New Zealand, Queenstown, Jan 2003. 1 match, 13 runs. Youngest wicket-keeper to play international cricket, picked as back-up for Rahul Dravid. Looks like he should still be in school but does not play like it. Captain of India’s under-17 and under-19 squads, chosen to understudy Ajay Ratra on the 2002 England Test tour but emerged as main stumper by the end of the series.
VIRENDER SEHWAG
Born: Oct 20 1978. Right-handed batsman, occasional off-break. ODI debut: v Pakistan, Mohali, April 1999. 57 matches, 1,780 runs, 5 hundreds, 36.32 average, 26 wickets at 44.34. Explosive opener with a batting style he has copied from Sachin Tendulkar. Discarded for a year-and-a-half after scoring a single on ODI debut against Pakistan in 1999. Hit the seventh fastest ODI century off 69 balls v New Zealand in 2001 and two one-day hundreds on seam-friendly New Zealand pitches in 2002-3 while others struggled.
YUVRAJ SINGH
Born: Dec 12 1981. Left-handed batsman, occasional left-arm spinner. ODI debut: v Kenya, Nairobi, Oct 2000. 59 matches, 1,289 runs, 28.64 average, 18 wickets at 39.83. A one-day specialist as aggressive middle-order batsman and cover point fielder. Son of former Test fast bowler Yograj Singh. Made memorable one-day debut against Australia in the 2000 Champions Trophy, smashing match-winning 84.
HARBHAJAN SINGH
Born: July 3 1980. Right-arm off-break bowler. ODI debut v New Zealand, Sharjah, April 1998. 63 matches, 83 wickets at 29.03, 280 runs at 11.66. Nicknamed The Turbanator. Made Test debut as a teenager v Australia in 1998. Came into limelight for all the wrong reasons, receiving a one-match ban for clashing with Australia’s Ricky Ponting in a one-day game in 1998, hauled up for throwing, then expelled from national academy for indiscipline in 2000.
Fought back in 2001 with support from new captain Saurav Ganguly and turned his career around with 32 wickets in a 2-1 upset home win over world champions Australia.
JAVAGAL SRINATH
Born: Aug 31 1969. Right-arm fast-medium bowler. ODI debut v Pakistan, Sharjah, Oct 1991. 218 matches, 299 wickets at 28.35. 882 runs, av 11.02. Bowling spearhead over the past decade. Provides early breakthroughs in one-dayers but struggles to stem run flow in the final stages. Abruptly announced retirement after a Test series in West Indies in 2002 but persuaded by Ganguly to return to lead an otherwise inexperienced pace attack at the World Cup.
SACHIN TENDULKAR
Born: April 24 1973. Right-handed batsman, right-arm slow bowler. ODI debut: v Pakistan, Gujranwala, Dec 1989. 303 matches, 11,546 runs, 33 hundreds, av 43.73. 110 wickets at 46.86. An Indian icon, widely regarded as the world’s best contemporary batsman. Holds world record for ODI runs. Became India’s youngest Test player at 16 in 1989. Ranked second in both all-time Test and one-day lists by Wisden — behind Australia’s Don Bradman and West Indies’ Viv Richards respectively. Has scored a world record 33 centuries in one-dayers, in which only player to pass 10,000 runs. His 31 Test hundreds just behind Sunil Gavaskar’s world-record 34. Two terms as captain, the first aged 23, but axed after his batting suffered. Re-appointed in 1999 but stood down after 3-0 Test series rout in Australia.
ZAHEER KHAN
Born: Oct 7 1978. Left-arm fast-medium bowler. ODI debut: v Kenya, Nairobi, Oct 2000. 56 matches, 86 wickets, av 26.51. Seen as leader of the new generation set take over from Srinath as India’s leading pace bowler. Gave up plans to pursue engineering and honed skills under former Australian speedster Dennis Lillee. Made international debut at 2000 Champions Trophy where India reached the final. Dropped in 2001 due to shin injury and poor overall fitness but bounced back and impressed on tours to West Indies and England in 2002. Developing into a run-denying bowler in one-dayers, especially in the slog overs.—Reuters