Zaheer Khan is the latest Indian cricketer to have been selected by Wisden in its annual list of five best cricketers that are chosen from all over the world. He is not in the team right now, due to injury, but the Wisden that mainly focuses on players' performance in England, has selected him for his 18 wickets in three tests against England last year--the series which India had won.
He is probably the 15th Indian cricketer ever to have been selected in the list of Wisden Cricket Almanac, the oldest sporting yearbook, which is in is 145th year.
The list of Indian cricketers who were selected by Wisden includes:
1. CK Nayudu 1933
2. Vijay Merchant 1937
3. Vinoo Mankad 1947
4. Nawab of Pataudi Jr (Mansoor Ali Khan) 1947
5. Bhagwat Chandrashekhar 1972
6. Sunil Manohar Gavaskar 1980
7. Kapil Dev Nikhanj 1983
8. Mohinder 'Jimmy' Amarnath 1984
9. Dilip Balwant Vengsarkar 1987
10. M Azharuddin 1991
11. Anil Kumble 199612. Sachi Tendulkar 1997
13. Rahul Dravid 2000
14. VVS Laxman 2002
15. Zaheer Khan 2008
Apart from them Indian-born players who were included in the list: KS Ranjitsinhji 1897, Iftikhar Ali Khan Nawab of Pataudi Senior 1932 and KS Duleepsinhji 1930. Also, Raman Subbarow's name figured in 1961. [Over the years Wisden has tried to lessen the impression that it mainly choses players who do well in First Class Cricket in the counties but it still gives more importance to any foreign players' performance on English soil. It has faced lot of flak over the years for this discrimination, but for cricket-lovers, its always a good pastime to go through any such lists. Just don't take it too seriously.]
