51�Թ�

While this is open to debate, that Dhoni belongs to the same cluster as Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev is now widely acknowledged.

If the great spinners were collared, there was no one to turn to until Kapil Dev came along, and if he had a bad day, that was that.

And do it they did, albeit with a bit of help from star Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev.

At the time of his retirement, he was India’s leading wicket-taker before being overtaken by Kapil Dev a few years later.

In reaching three figures from 63 balls he scored the fastest hundred by an Indian at a World Cup, beating a famous 72-ball effort by Kapil Dev at Tunbridge Wells in 1983.