Because of its British colonial past, cricket has become the most popular sport in South Asia, with India having the most developed professional league system. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the second highest paid professional sports league in the world after the NBA in the United States. The IPL’s success is due not only to the huge domestic cricket market in India, but also to the internationalization of cricket.

If you want to get to know India, you can’t miss this national sport. Talking to Indians about cricket is an unbeatable way to start a conversation. Here are some of the stars of Indian cricket.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The national team’s three-poster wicketkeeper for 14 years. He is expected to be the first Indian player to cross 200 knocks and has been the captain of Chennai since the first year of IPL. He is definitely a Hall of Fame Indian cricketer and his life was made into a biopic “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story” by Bollywood in 2016, so why shouldn’t you know him?

Suresh Raina

A middle-aged batsman and vice-captain of the team, he is the only one who is a spiritual leader of the team compared to Dhoni. 176 career IPL games and 4,985 career points are the first in the league.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma has the same level of salary as the legendary Dhoni. He won the Rookie of the Year in 2009 at Hyderabad and moved to Mumbai Indians in 2011. Two years later, he took over the captaincy from Sachin Tendulkar and led the team to its first ever title. Let him stand firm as the first brother in Mumbai from now on.

Yuvraj Singh

In 2011, India won the World Cup on their home turf after 28 years, with the national hero taking home the MVP of the tournament. However, the year after the World Cup, he was diagnosed with cancer and went to the US for treatment, but his performance was not as good as before.

Virat Kohli

Husband of Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma. The highest paid player in the IPL and current captain of the Indian national team, he scored 973 runs in a single season in 2016, taking him to the top of his career. He has become the winning team of his life, not only playing cricket, but also holding a team in the Indian Super League and a team in the Professional wrestling promotion.

Rishabh Pant

At the age of 24, he is the highest paid player in the team. In 2017, he played for India at the age of 19 in the 2020 International Tournament, setting a new record for the national team at that time. Delhi, who have not made the playoffs in six years, are still second in the individual scoring charts and have won the Rookie of the Year award.