Top 10 Most Popular Cricketers in The World | 2021 Rankings.

 10.Brett Lee

Arguably the fastest bowler ever, Brett Lee was a potent weapon in Australia's armoury during their glory days of the 2000s. If facing Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne wasn't threatening enough, opposition batsmen rarely had the luxury of getting of taking a breather as they had to contend with the raw pace of Lee. Masterly with the new ball and equally if not more threatening with the older ball, the New South Wales pacer had every trick in the book which made him a complete fast bowler by all means. Generally, it was the outswinger that was Lee's major trump card although his pace meant that a searing yorker or a whizzing bouncer were always around the corner. A fast bowling great in the ODI format, Lee couldn't quite replicate the same amount of success in Tests although he did finish with over 300 scalps in the longest format. Clearly, injuries also hindered him but even then, he seemed to enjoy the 50-over format more.

9.Muttiah Muralitharan

By almost universal consensus, Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the nicest blokes to play cricket. And yet, he has been at the centre of numerous controversies, none of them of his own making.

Viewed purely through numbers, Muralitharan is a giant performer and is in the unique position of holding the records for most wickets in One Day Internationals as well as Test matches. In fact, what Murali has done in bowling is akin to what Tendulkar has done in batting.

However, most people view Murali through a prism -- fair or unfair -- and questions about the legality of his action have continued to haunt him throughout his career. He has been cleared numerous times -- by biomechanical experts, by the ICC and by independent observers -- but the doubters refuse to be silenced.

8.Lasith Malinga

Bleached hair, tattoos, pierced eyebrows and the flamboyance of a star, Lasith Malinga was truly Sri Lanka's pin-up boy. It helps when you have the skill set to back it up, and Malinga had it in plenty. That ball kiss before every delivery, that freaky sling as he bowled and the curl the ball took at 145ks has broken many a toe and has carved out a niche for itself in annals of world cricket. In a land where pitches were only a nicer term for rank turners and a giant in the form of Muttiah Muralitharan operated, Malinga prospered far beyond his shadow to shine in what ended up being Sri Lankan cricket's golden period in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

7.Chris Gayle

Twenty20 cricket seemingly picked Chris Gayle as its ambassador, for he scored the very first hundred in the format and now uncontestedly owns almost every record there is, including that of the most runs (now 10,000+), most hundreds, fastest hundred, and most fours and sixes.

Chris Gayle might stand tall at over six feet and wield his bat to make or break T20 leagues, but make no mistake about his affinity for Test cricket. His absenteeism from Tests later in his career may seem to suggest otherwise but Gayle has racked up 15 Test hundreds and over 7,000 runs across 103 matches so far, and frequently turns up for his many T20 franchises in jerseys numbered 333 - his highest First Class score, which he made against Sri Lanka at Galle, to become only the fourth batsman after Don Bradman, Brian Lara and Virender Sehwag with two Test triples in a lifetime.

6.Brian Lara

A hero, a magician, an entertainer, a match-winner, a saviour, a leader, a tragic romantic, Brian Charles Lara, like a masterful actor, slipped in and out of several roles with effortless ease. First thing's first, Lara will forever be remembered as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era, bracketed alongside the elite company of Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis.

Lara's wizardry and sheer style though would trump any batsman including the aforementioned troika. Another attribute that set him up as a cut above the rest was his voracious appetite for big, massive scores. Armed with a high backlift, generating that typical Caribbean flourish, Lara was equally efficient against spin and pace. Ask Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram, Glenn McGrath and the rest of their breed.

5.Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram was one of those rare talents, who never played first-class cricket, before making his international debut. In fact, he could not even get into the college team. Born in a Punjabi Arain family in Lahore, Wasim Akram's magical moment came when he participated in the trials conducted at the Gaddafi Stadium. Interestingly, he was a mere spectator for the first two days and finally, got a chance to roll his arms over on the third day.

Straightaway, he impressed Pakistan's senior cricket Javed Miandad, who then pressed for Akram's inclusion immediately into the national team. That was the opening the legend needed. From a bloke who was not even part of competitive cricket, Akram went on to become 'The King of Swing.' In fact, shockingly, Akram himself admitted that he did not know how to swing the ball during his early days.

4.M S Dhoni

Less than thirty years before that enchanting Saturday night when Ravi Shastri’s voice rang through television sets all over India, when even the spunky and exuberant Indian youth showed more interest in an old-school CRT television at a local chai ki dukaan than the dance-floor at a pub, a pump-operator in Ranchi awaited the birth of his third child.

Any cricket fan worth his salt just read this in Ravi Shastri's most dramatic voice, as Mahendra Singh Dhoni enchanted the Wankhede on the night of 2nd April 2011.

3.Shoaib Akhtar

Imagine a bowler running in those extra yards all the way from the boundary, with fire in his eyes and coming at you at a speed of nearly 100 miles. Forget about facing him, only the thoughts of it would bring shivers down your spine. Such was the impact of this super quick speedster called 'Shoaib Akhtar' on the psyche of batsmen. Many legends of the previous generation have been at its receiving end. Be it Brian Lara, be it Sachin Tendulkar, be it Ricky Ponting or be it Sourav Ganguly. You name him and Shoaib had given that batsman a taste of his medicine. He was an amalgamation of raw pace, lethal bouncers and nightmares. There was hardly anyone who got away with it.

2.Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi, Pakistan's allrounder, is as enigmatic a player as there ever was. He came as a 16-year-old into the Pakistan ODI squad and was unfazed by all the speculation regarding his real age. In only his second ODI against Sri Lanka in 1996, he blasted his way to a 37-ball century. For more than 17 years, it remained the fastest century in the ODI format before Corey Anderson broke the record in January 2014. Afridi's sparkling ton came after he was sent in as a pinch-hitter at one drop and after being picked in the team as a leg-spinner to replace the injured Mushtaq Ahmed!

1.Sachin Tendulkar

You’ve heard the chant. You may not have heard of the sport, but you’ve heard the chant. The chant - one that a billion people once lived by; one that would originate from the Wankhede and echo across the city and the seas. It is a name that continues to inspire many, not only in India, but all over the world, to take up the sport. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar was that cricketer whose personality and aura upstaged any cricketing contest; yet he maintained that he wasn’t greater than than the game. To the people of India, the 5’5” giant of a man was much more than that. He was an emotion; a symbol of hope in a nation that revered him as nothing short of a God.

Ironically, in the midst of the over-the-top veneration and in spite of the pedestal he has been placed on, it is his humility and the ability to cast it all out that has allowed him to put forth his best performances on the international stage for over two decades. Having played across generations, Tendulkar started playing Test cricket in a white shirt that could just as easily have been used as a school uniform, and scored his last Test hundred in a niche Nike jersey that was impossible to buy over the counter, and would later be auctioned for millions.