VVS Laxman

1) VVS Laxman was born on 1st November 1974 in Hyderabad
2) VVS Laxman, whose parents are doctors, had to make a choice between a medical career and playing cricket before he eventually opted for the willow and made his mark as one of India's finest cricketers. He is said to be the immense grand nephew of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, ex- President of India
3) In 1987, VVS surprised everyone when he scored his first ton against Andhra Pradesh scoring 153 in an Under-13 tournament in Vijayawada. This was an obvious indication of a legend in the making
4) Laxman was brilliant at academics and scored 98 percent marks in his 10th board exam. His parents — Dr Shantaram and Dr Satyabhama — are noted doctors and following suit, he too enrolled as a Medical student. But thankfully, he chose the life of a cricketer over that of a physician’s.
His family’s eminence doesn’t end here; Laxman apparently is the great grand nephew of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India. He is married to G R Sailaja, a computer science post-graduate. They tied the knot on February 16, 2004 and have two children – son Sarvajit and daughter Achinta
5) VVS Laxman played his maiden first-class match against Punjab while playing for Hyderabad in the quarter-final match of 1992–93 Ranji Trophy season. Unfortunately, he could score only 0 and 17 in the match
6) VVS Laxman came back strongly in the next season piling up 532 runs from 5 matches at an impressive average of 76 with 2 tons
7) Laxman played his first U-19 international game in the same match in which Brett Lee represented Australia for the very first time. Laxman tormented the Aussies in that particular series
8) VVS took more than three years to score his maiden Test century, a robust 167 against Australia at Sydney in 2000 that made the cricketing world sit up and take notice of this special talent
9) Laxman was involved in three more mammoth stands against Australia - 353 with Sachin Tendulkar in 2004 in Sydney, 303 with Dravid in Adelaide in the same series and 278 with Gautam Gambhir at New Delhi in 2008
10) VVS Laxman is one of those unfortunate cricketers who played over 100 Test matches for their countries but never got a chance to play in a cricket World Cup
11) Hyderabad may be famous for its ‘Dum Biryani’, but Laxman doesn’t gorge on to it, as he is a strict vegetarian. He loves the typical home made food and particularly ‘rasam’ that is prepared in the typical South Indian style
12) VVS Laxman played his maiden Test against South Africa at Motera, Ahmedabad in 1996. He scored 11 and 51 in two innings of this low-scoring Test match that saw India winning it convincingly
13) The top-order right-hander made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe at Cuttack ODI in 1998 but was dismissed for a duck
14) A reliable slip fielder, Laxman shares the record for the maximum number of catches by an non-wicketkeeper in an ODI series. Laxman affected 12 dismissals in the 2003-04 VB series, a record only matched by Australia’s Allan Border
15) VVS Laxman is India's fourth-highest scorer (8,781) in Tests after Sachin Tendulkar (15,470 runs), Rahul Dravid (13,265) and Sunil Gavaskar (10,122)
16) In 2008, Laxman became only the second Indian batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to score more than 2000 Test runs against the Australians. Laxman hit an unbeaten 200 in the first innings to save the match
17) This was the turning point in the talented right hander’s career. Laxman played rock solid while scoring superb 281 against Australia at Kolkata test in the second innings (following-on) and piled a huge 376-run stand with Rahul Dravid that helped India win this test match
18) It was the legendary Aussie captain Ian Chappel who coined the nickname Very Very Special for Laxman after seeing him playing consistent good knocks against Australia during 2003-2004 ODI series
19) Though Laxman isn’t considered to be in the league of great ODI players, he achieved something he could be very proud of. In early 2004, when India were playing a tri-series in Australia, Laxman notched up three ODI hundreds in a span of week’s time. On January 18, he scored 103 not out against Australia at Brisbane, four days later he scored 106 not out against the same opposition at Sydney and on January 24, he scored 131 against Zimbabwe at Adelaide
20) VVS Laxman has other interests apart from cricket. He likes playing table tennis, squash and badminton during his free time. He religiously follows tennis and admires Steffi Graf and Boris Becker
21) VVS Laxman always stood tall against the Australian bowling attack. Laxman’s 6 out of 17 test tons, and 4 out of his 6 ODI hundreds came against Australia
22) VVS Laxman has received the prestigious Padma Shri awards and Arjuna Awards for his immense contribution to cricket
23) Laxman’s 281 is counted as the 6th best in Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack list of 100 great test innings
24) VVS Laxman has played county cricket for Lancashire and has played IPL too. He was initially named the icon player for Deccan Chargers, the Hyderabad IPL side. Laxman appointed as the captain rejected the offer to be an icon player in order to free funds that would enable the franchise to buy younger players
25) His favorite film - Jerry Maguire. His favorite actor - Aamir Khan. 
Laxman is also said to be a massive follower of Aamir’s reality TV show ‘Satyamev Jayate’
26) On 18 August 2012, Laxman announced his retirement from international cricket. Although he was selected for the upcoming New Zealand series, he opted not to play in the series but he will play in domestic cricket for Hyderabad and the Indian Premier League. It was announced that the Northern Stand at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium will now be named after him.

Sir Vivian Richards

1) Sir Vivian Richards was born on the 7th of March 1952 at St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
2) Sir Vivian Richards, is the only player to play in the football and cricket World Cups. The West Indian crickter represented Antigua in the qualifying rounds of the 1974 football World Cup
3) In November 1974, Richards made his Test debut against India in Bangalore, falling to Bhagwat Chandrasekhar for 4 and 3. Astonishingly, the selectors dropped Chandra for the next Test, and Viv slammed 192 not out. As a result, West India won the match by an innings and 17 runs. In all, he played 120 Tests more and scored over 8,500 runs at an average of just over 50
4) The 31st of May 1984 became a red letter day for Cricket and Vivian Richards in particular. Celebrating almost a year of losing the 1983 World Cup, Richards marked the occasion with a magnificent century. The spectators at Old Trafford didn’t know what hit them on the day. Eldine Baptiste and Michael Holding were the only other two batsmen to cross double figures on the day. Richards smashed, crashed, hooked, cut and pulled an England bowling attack comprising of Bob Willis, Ian Botham and Neil Foster on his way to 189. He smashed 21 fours and five sixes as the Windies went on to win by a mammoth 104 runs
5) ​In 2000, he was voted one of the five c​ricketers of the ​c​entury by a 100-member panel of experts along with Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Garfield Sobers, Sir Jack Hobbs and Shane Warne
6) Vivian Richards did not do anything extraordinary with bat in World Cup 1975, but pulled off three spectacular run outs, sending back Alan Turner, Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell, thus helping his side win by a close margin of 17 runs
7) 1976 was Viv Richards’ finest year, when Vivian scored 1,710 runs in just 11 Tests at an average of 90. Viv notched up six tons in the process. This was a record for most Test runs in a calendar year that stood for 30 years until it was subsequently broken by Mohammad Yousuf who scored 1,788 runs in 2006
8) In the 1979 World Cup final against England, Richards launched into the England attack with a vengeance. Vivian slammed a 157-ball 138 with 11 fours and 6 sixes (including a flicked six off Mike Hendrick in the last ball of the innings), and helped his side win by 92 runs. Vivian was named Man of the Match for his performance
9) As a captain, Vivian never lost any test series
10) Vivian Richards joined the Delhi Daredevils as their Mentor in The Indian Premier League in 2013. Richards will also mentor the Quetta Gladiators in the 2016 Pakistan Super League
11) In 1994, Richards was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket
12) In test cricket, Vivian scored 8,540 runs at an average​ of​ more than 50 runs per innings. Viv also hit 24 centuries and 45 half centuries along with 32 wickets
13) In ODI cricket, Vivian scored 6721 runs at an averag​e of 47. Viv also hit 11 centuries and 45 half centuries along with 118 wickets
14) Richards had apparently twice refused a blank cheque offer to play for a rebel West Indies squad in South Africa during the Apartheid era in 1983, and again in 1984
15) Viv Richards was extremely successful as captain of the West Indies team. Viv captained the team in 50 Tests and won 27 of them while lost only 8. Viv remains the only West Indies captain to never lose a Test series
16) Viv Richards never used helmet in his 17 years international career
17) Viv Richards led a colourful life both on and off field. Viv is married to Miriam and has two children with her: Matara, who currently lives in Canada; and Mali, who has also played First-Class cricket. Viv also had a brief relationship with Indian actress Neena Gupta, with whom he has a daughter, fashion designer Masaba Gupta, with whom he shares a doting relationship. He is also godfather to his good friend and contemporary player Ian Botham’s son, Liam
18) Vivian Richards was chosen as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1977
19) In December 2002, Wisden named him as the greatest ODI batsman of all time as well as the third greatest Test batsman of all time, after Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar
20) The Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua, is named in his honour.

Kapil Dev

1) Kapil Dev was born on 6th January 1959 in Chandigarh, Punjab
2) Kapil Dev was born to Ram Lal Nikhanj, a building and timber contractor and his wife Raj Kumari. His parents had migrated from Rawalpindi, Punjab during the partition of India
3) Kapil Dev was a student at D.A.V. School and joined Desh Prem Azad in 1971
4) Although known as one of the best all-rounders ever, Kapil Dev was popular as a bowler in the domestic cricket circuit. On his first-class debut, Kapil bowled out Punjab for 63 runs with six wickets to his name
5) Kapil Dev played for Haryana for 17 years and was a constant member of the team from 1975 to 1992
6) Kapil Dev made both his Test and ODI debuts against Pakistan in the year 1978
7) Kapil Dev first Test wicket was that of Sadiq Mohammad of Pakistan
8) Apart from Haryana, Kapil's first-class experience also includes English county clubs, Worcestershire (1983-84) and Northamptonshire (1981-83)
9) In his entire 184-innings Test career, Kapil Dev had never been run out. No other cricketer has achieved this feat
10) During a series against Pakistan in 1979-80, Kapil Dev became the youngest Test player to achieve the all-round double of 100 wickets and 1,000 runs
11) In the ODI format, his first wicket was that of Imran Khan
12) Kapil dev best bowling analysis in a Test innings was 9 wickets for 83 runs verses the West Indies at Ahmadabad in the year 1983
13) On February 8, 1994, he took the wicket of the Sri Lanka’s Harshan Tillekeratne, to go past Hadlee’s world record haul of 431 wickets and retired with 434 wickets. He held the world record for eight years. It was then broken by West Indies fast bowler, Courtney Walsh in the year, 2000. In 1988, Kapil overtook Joel Garner to become the highest wicket-taker in ODI cricket. His final career tally of 253 wickets remained a record until it was broken by Wasim Akram in 1994
14) 303 runs, 12 wickets and 7 catches in 8 matches – this was Kapil Dev’s statistics in the 1983 World Cup. His extraordinary knock of 175 runs against Zimbabwe saved India from being ousted from the quarter-finals. India went on to lift the cup when they defeated the mighty West Indian team in the final match. It was one of the biggest moments of glory in Indian cricket and brought a major turnaround for the sport in the country
15) Kapil Dev held the world record for the most number of wickets (434) in Test cricket for eight years. The record was broken by West Indies fast bowler, Courtney Walsh in the year, 2000
16) Kapil dev was an aggressive batsman who had a penchant for hitting sixes frequently. He was involved in a notable incident during the Lord’s Test match of 1990 when he hit off-spinner Eddie Hemmings for four sixes in succession to take India past the follow-on target
17) Kapil Dev never missed a Test because of injury or fitness reasons in a career that spanned 131 Tests spread over 16 years
18) On 17 occassions has Kapil Dev bowled 10 or more overs in a ODI match without claiming a wicket
19) His highest ODI score is 175 not out verses Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wills on 18 July, 1983. This was during the 1983 Prudential World Cup which India ultimately won. Kapil, who was captaining the Indian team, had single handedly won India the match on that day
20) Kapil Dev's highest Test score is 163 verses Sri Lanka at Kanpur in the year 1986
21) A patriot by heart, Kapil Dev joined the Indian Territorial Army as a honorary Lieutenant Colonel on September 24, 2008
22) Kapil dev was appointed coach of the Indian national cricket team in 1999, succeeding Anshuman Gaekwad. He had a rather ordinary stint as India’s coach for 10 months between October 1999 and August 2000. He was also dragged into the match-fixing controversy by Manoj Prabhakar. But, these charges were subsequently dismissed. However, Kapil resigned as coach following this controversy
23) Kapil Dev was named by Wisden as the Indian Cricketer of the Century
24) Best innings figures by a captain - 9 for 83, v West Indies at Ahmedabad (1983)
25) Only player to score 4000 runs & take 400 wickets in Test cricket - Scored 5248 runs & took 434 wickets
26) First Indian captain to win a world title - 1983 Prudential World Cup
27) National Honours - Arjuna Award – 1979-80, Padma Shri – 1982, Padma Bhushan – 1991
28) Kapil Dev is married to Romi Bhatia. Kapil was introduced to her by a common friend in 1979 and proposed to her in 1980. The couple married in 1980 and had a daughter, Amiya Dev, on 16 January 1996.

Sir Garfield Sobers

1) Sir Garfield Sobers was born on July 28, 1936 in Bridgetown, Barbados. He was christened Garfield St Aubrun Sobers
2) Garfield Sobers was one of the six children to Shamont and Thelma Sobers. Sobers lost his father at the age of five due to shipwreck in 1942
3) ‘Garfield St Auburn’ was an uncommon and Sobers in his autobiography says, “Most Barbadians have unusual names, and I was no exception,” he said. He was supposedly given the two names after a few relatives settled in the United States of America
4) Garry Sobers was born with six fingers on each hand. The first extra finger fell off before he was 10, jerked out with a piece of catgut wrapped around the base and hauled off with a sharp tug. He played his first serious cricket match with 11 digits. The remaining additional finger was severed with the help of a sharp knife when Sobers was 14
5) Garfield Sobers did his schooling at Bay Street Boys School. He along with his brother Gerald Sobers helped his school to three inter-school cricket championships
6) Sobers was just 16 and still playing in his shorts when he was chosen as a last-minute replacement against the touring Indians of 1952-53 — his First-Class debut. The Sobers family could not afford flannels for the young man to play his first match. Barbados cricket Association presented Sobers with his first cricket outfit
7) Sobers had natural talent for sport and excelled in cricket, football and basketball. Still in his teens, he was invited to play cricket for Kent St. Philip club and Wanderers club
8) Sobers first international exposure was when he got selected for the Barbados eleven for a match against touring Indian team on January 31, 1953 at the age of 16 years. He made immediate impression with his bowling taking 7 for 142 in the match
9) In the 1952–53 season, Sobers was invited to the Barbados trials for the colony’s tour match against the Indian touring team at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown. He was initially selected as 12th man but then made the team itself when Frank King was forced to withdraw. He, therefore, made his first-class debut on 31 January 1953, aged only 16. Batting at number nine, he scored 7 not out in his only innings but made an immediate impression as a bowler, taking 4/50 and 3/92
10) His performance against touring Marylebone Cricket club earned him his test call. Sobers took two wickets and scored 46 & 27 in that match
11) From 1961 to 1968, in 33 Tests, Sobers scored 3106 runs at 63.38 with 9 hundreds and captured 125 wickets at 27.93
12) Sobers is the youngest player to score a Triple Century in tests. That 365* vs Pakistan at Kingston in 1958 came when he was just 21 years and 213 days old. He overcame Sir Don Bradman's record who scored his 334 vs Eng at Leeds in 1930 at the age of 21 years and 318 days
13) Scoring 300 runs and taking 20 wickets in a series is no mean feat - it's only been achieved 15 times in the entire history of Test cricket. But what makes Sobers stand apart is that he managed it three times on his own, twice against England, and once against India
14) In fact even in his early days he averaged nearly 63 in 79 matches, which was easily the best during that period. And if we talk about his bowling, in the eight years when Sobers was at the peak on his bowling powers, he was among the best in that aspect too: only three bowlers took more than 100 wickets at an average lower than Sobers' 27.93
15) Sobers became the captain of his side in 1965 and enjoyed immediate success as West Indies captain when his team defeated Australia by 179 runs in the First Test at Sabina Park. West Indies went on to win the series 2–1 and so claim the new Frank Worrell Trophy. This was the first time West Indies had beaten Australia in a Test series
16) Sobers was the first to score 3000 Runs, take 200 wickets and grab 100 catches in Tests. Only 3 others have managed to do it after him - Sir Ian Botham, Shane Warne, and Jacques Kallis
17) Sobers was the one of the first cricketer from West Indies to play as a professional in the English league crcicket. He represented Radcliffe Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League from 1958 to 62. He was paid £500 a season apart from match day collection
18) Sobers was signed up Nottinghamshire county on November 14, 1967 to play as overseas cricketer for a sum of £ 7000 a year including apartment and car
19) On 31 August 1968, Sobers became the first batsman ever to hit six sixes in a single over of six consecutive balls in first-class cricket. The feat consisted of five clean hits for six and one six where the ball was caught but carried over the boundary by Roger Davis. Sobers was playing as captain of Nottinghamshire against Glamorgan at St. Helen’s in Swansea; the unfortunate bowler was Malcolm Nash. This tally of 36 runs in an over broke a 57-year-old record of 34 runs, held by Ted Allenton. The ball was collected from a garden by 11-year-old Richard Lewis; he later gave the ball to Sobers
20) Sobers married Prue Kirby an Australian in September 1969. Apart from his two sons Mathew and Daniel, he adopted a daughter Genevieve
21) Sobers was selected as one of the five Wisden Cricketer of the Century in 2000. He garnered 90 votes out of possible 100
22) Sobers was made a National Hero of Barbados by the Cabinet of Barbados in 1998 and has the honorary prefix “The Right Excellent” to his name. He is one of only ten people to have received this honour and the only recipient still living
23) In 2004 International Cricket Council inaugurated ‘Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy’ in honour of Sobers. The trophy is awarded to ICC Player of the Year
24) Sobers played 93 tests scoring 8032 runs and took 235 wickets. He has played 383 first class matches and has scored 28,000 runs with 1000 wickets.

Gautam Gambhir

1) Gautam Gambhir was born on October 14, 1981, in Delhi
2) Gautam Gambhir father was businessman and a housewife mother
3) Gautam Gambhir was adopted by his grandparents when he was 18-days old and has lived with them ever since
4) Gautam Gambhir started playing cricket at the age of 10 and was coached by Sanjay Bharadwaj and Raju Tandon
5) At age of 18, Gautam got selected for National Cricket Academy, Bangalore and later made in U19 Indian teams
6) Gautam Gambhir captained India 6 Times in his international career and won all the 6 games
7) Gautam Gambhir made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in the TVS Cup in 2003. In his third match, he scored 71 and was named Man of the Match
8) Gautam Gambhir made his Test debut in 2004 against Australia in the fourth and last test match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy but did not score much
9) Gautam Gambhir is the first Indian and 5th overall to score 5 Tons in 5 consecutive Tests
10) Gautam Gambhir was part of India A team during their tour to West Indies in 2002/03 Carib Beer Cup, where Gautam top scored for his side with 617 runs in 13 innings
11) Gautam Gambhir enjoyed the period between 2008 and 2011. Gambhir finished the 2008 CB series as the highest run getter with 440 runs. Gambhir was soon a regular as well as key member of the Indian squad in all three formats
12) Gambhir maiden Test century came against Bangladesh in December 2004
13) Gautam Gambhir became the second highest run-scorer of the inaugural IPL season of 2008 with 534 runs from 14 matches
14) Gambhir was the highest paid cricketer in IPL 2011 as Kolkata bagged him for $2.4 Millions
15) In 2010, Gautam was appointed as the stand in captain of the national team for a home ODI series against New Zealand. Gautam scored an unbeaten 150 in the fourth match in Kolkata, leading the team to a victory in the run-chase. Gautam eventually earned the Man of the Series award and led India to a 5–0 win
16) During World T20, 2007 final against Pakistan, Gautam Gambhir scored a brilliant 75 in just 54 balls. Gautam Gambhir was India’s top run scorer in ICC World Twenty20 with 227 runs. In overall, only Mathew Hayden scored more than him with 265 runs
17) Gautam Gambhir scored his maiden century against Sri Lanka in 2005( 103 off 97 balls)
18) Gautam Gambhir also has another unique landmark to his name. Gambhir is the first Indian to record more than 300 runs in four consecutive Test series
19) Opening the batting with Virender Sehwag, Gautam scored 858 runs in seven matches including a double century against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
20) Gautam Gambhir was conferred with the Arjuna Award, India’s second highest sporting award in the year 2008 by the President of India. The following year, Gautam was the number one ranked batsman in ICC Test rankings. The same achievement earned him the recipient of the ICC Test Player of the Year award
21) In 2009, Gautam Gambhir reached No.1 rank in ICC Test rankings for batsmen
22) Gautam Gambhir became only the 2nd player after Viv Richards to score 11 fifties in 11 consecutive Test innings in 2010, Gambhir opening partner Sehwag matched this feat, Later, in 2014, AB de Villiers eclipsed this record when he posted his 12th consecutive fifty.
23) In October 2011, Gautam Gambhir married Natasha Jain who comes from a prominent business family
24) Gautam Gambhir along with Sehwag, had 4412 partnership runs in 87 innings while opening, the most for an Indian opening pair. Their average of 52.52 is the best among pairs with minimum of 4000 runs
25) India won the 50-over World Cup after a long wait of 28 years in 2011. Gautam was the sixth highest scorer of the tournament and second highest for India behind Sachin Tendulkar. In the final, Gambhir’s 97 from 122 balls set up India’s successful chase. Gautam led India’s reply and had useful partnerships first with Kohli, and then a match-winning partnership of 109 with MS Dhoni.

Allan Border

1) Allan Robert Border was born on the 27th of July 1955 in Cremorne, New South Wales, Australia
2) Allan Border was a champion batsman and it did not matter where Allan was playing. Border never believed in things like ‘home advantage’ and ‘settling to overseas conditions’. Border scored 5,743 runs at 45.94 from 86 Tests at home and 5,431 runs at 56.57 from 70 Tests overseas. The stats show that he enjoyed batting on the foreign soil much more than at home
3) In 1980, Allan Border became the first player to go past 150 in both innings of a test match, when Border smashed an unbeaten 150 and 153 against Pakistan. The record still stands and he remains the only player to achieve this
4) Allan Border was a player who exuded the pride of Australia and made the Australian cricket team his home for almost all his cricketing career. It was as though he knew a code, the code being the Baggy Green cap, something Border has defended for most of his playing career
5) Allan Border was dismissed for four against England at WACA in 1979-80. Border was furious with himself as he returned to the dressing-room. He later wrote in his autobiography: “I opened the door with a bad-tempered, hip and shoulders shirtfront, threw my bat onto the floor, ripped off my gloves, kicked them as far as I could and unleashed a scathing verbal attack on Poms in general and their cricketers in particular.”
Allan went on and on; in his words, Allan “exhausted his vocabulary”. It was only then Allan realised that he had returned to the England dressing room. One can never tell whether the incident motivated him to do better, but he scored 115 in the second innings as Australia won by 138 runs
6) Allan Border was a tough task master. England’s Robin Smith had got a mouthful from him during the Trent Bridge Test in 1989. Poor Robin Smith asked for Border’s permission to call the 12th man to have a glass of water on the field. The reply from Border almost sulked him into tears. Border replied, “What do you think this is? A f**king tea party? No, you can’t have a f**king glass of water. You can f**king wait like the rest of us.”
7) Allan Border has the highest average (56.57) overseas for any batsman who has scored over 5000 runs outside his country
8) Not a natural leader, nor a man of frills, Allan came reluctantly to the captaincy in a dark age for Australia after Kim Hughes’ tearful resignation at Brisbane in 1984-85, but eventually applied himself to the task as proudly as to his batting
9) While most of the modern day players chase fame, Border was one who wanted to be successful ahead of fame. He remains to be one of the players who was against the so-called ‘washbag culture’ of being rewarded for doing anything special
10) Border’s other five-wicket haul came against West Indies as well (all his four-wicket hauls came against them). At Bourda in 1990-91 Border had already dismissed Desmond Haynes after Australia had scored 348. Then, after West Indies had reached 529 for five, Border took out Jeff Dujon, Gus Logie, Curtly Ambrose, and Courtney Walsh in the span of nine balls.
Alan Border finished with five for 68. In fact, he picked up 19 wickets against West Indies at 24.31 — an average better than those of Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, or Keith Miller
11) Allan Border remains the only Australian captain to have ever taken a 10 wicket haul in tests
12) The India-Australia rivalry in cricket is usually referred to as the Border-Gavaskar series. The Test series usually takes place once every three years
13) Allan Border earned the tag ‘Captain Grumpy’ after Allan set his sights on winning the 1989 edition of the Ashes. Of course, Allan can sometimes be a miserable person to deal with. However, the fact that he did it out of pure determination to win the Ashes back was something that can be seen as forgiving. Australia went on to claim the 1989 edition of the Ashes 4-0
14) When Allan Border walked out to bat against New South Wales at The Gabba in 1993-94 he saw a young, Glenn McGrath with trousers that did not go down below his shins. Border decided to go under the skin of the youngster: “Hey mate, why are your pants so high? Are you expecting a flood or something?”
A furious Glenn McGrath unleashed a bouncer. Border calmly responded, mentioning that McGrath resembled Jethro Bodine from The Beverly Hillbillies, and continued to call him “Jethro” throughout the innings, which lasted for four-and-a-half hours. McGrath was so angry that he went red, but could not utter anything more than a grunt and an almost-predictable bouncer.
Then Border came out with “I know you can grunt, but can you speak?” McGrath was so worked up that he could not utter another word till Border was there (he was the last man out). However, McGrath had the last laugh when he dismissed Border in the second innings for 11, and NSW won by eight wickets.
15) Allan Border is known for one of the most dramatic moments in a cricket World cup when he took Gatting’s wicket in 1987 WC final, which led to a batting collapse and a win for Australia
16) Allan Border was the skipper when India played host to only the second Tied Test match in Test cricket’s illustrious history. The Australians picked up the wicket of Maninder Singh when the scores were tied in the fourth innings
17) Allan Border played his final Test against South Africa and became a selector afterwards. In his honour, players are now awarded the Allan Border medal for being the best.

AB De Villiers

1) South Africa’s batsman AB de Villiers has scored the fastest-ever one-day international century against West Indies from just 31 deliveries breaking Corey Anderson’s record who took 36 balls to reach his hundred.

2) AB de Villiers’ first job was to carry the drinks in the backyard for his brothers while they played Cricket. As a reward, the 4-year-old would get the chance to bat at the end of the day.

3) AB de Villiers was shortlisted for Junior National Hockey squad.

4) AB de Villiers was shortlisted for Junior National Football squad.

5) AB de Villiers captained the South Africa Junior Rugby side.

6) AB de Villiers held six South African school swimming records.

7) AB de Villiers has been the record time holder for 100m in Junior Athletics of his country South Africa.

8) AB de Villiers was a member of South Africa Junior Davis Cup Tennis Team.

9) AB de Villiers was a National Badminton U-19 Champion.

10) AB de Villiers once received a national medal for a Science project from the South African President Nelson Mandela.

11) In 2010, AB de Villiers collaborated with South African Ampie Du Preez for his their debut music album named “Maak Jou Drome Waar” (Make Your Dreams Come True)

12) AB de Villiers wanted to be a doctor like his father, but providence had something else in store for him.

“I would probably be a doctor like my dad, but I’ve never had the chance to study”.

13) Has a golf handicap of scratch or zero. In other words, he is a player whose average score for a round of golf is par or better.

14) AB de Villiers reached his century off 52 balls, which was the second-fastest in World Cup history, the best being off 50 balls scored by Kevin O'Brien against England in 2011 World Cup.

15) AB de Villiers also reached the fastest 150 runs in ODIs which came off just 64 balls. Not to forget, AB also owns the record for the fastest half-century and fastest century in ODI.

16) AB de Villiers knock helped South Africa post a total of 408 runs on the board which was the second highest team total in World Cup history after India's 413 against Bermuda in 2007 World Cup.

17) AB de Villiers was extremely brutal against Windies skipper Jason Holder who conceded 104 runs off his quota of ten overs – the second worst figures in World Cup history. Kiwi bowler Martin Snedden had conceded 105 runs in 12 overs against England at The Oval in 1983. Holder conceded 34 runs in his ninth over, which was the second most in any World Cup and third most in all ODIs.

18) AB de Villiers favorite cricket ground is SuperSport Park, Centurion (his home ground)

19) AB de Villiers was born on 17 February 1984. 17 his lucky number. His jersey number is also 17.

20) AB de Villiers favorite songs are “Gladiator” & “A River Runs Through It”.

21) AB de Villiers’ favorite football club is Manchester United.

22) AB de Villiers favorite sportsmen are Tiger Woods and Roger Federer.

23) When asked who he would invite to dinner, AB de Villiers answered, “Nelson Mandela, Tiger Woods, Roger Federer & Kate Beckinsale. AB has also mentioned he’d invite Brad Pitt (and maybe Angelina, too).”

24) AB de Villiers is a big foodie and his favorite food indulgences are Pasta and Seafood.

25) AB de Villiers’ favorite actress is Kate Beckinsale.