Sandeep Singh

    Sandeep Singh was born 27 February 1986, is an Indian professional field hockey player and an ex-captain of the Indian national team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. Singh currently holds a DSP rank in the Haryana Police. He belongs to the Saini Sikh community of Haryana. Singh hails from Shahabad town in Kurukshetra, Haryana, and was born to Gurcharan Singh Saini and Daljit Kaur Saini. His elder brother, Bikramjeet Singh, is also a field hockey player and plays for Indian Oil.

    Singh's international debut was in January 2004 in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He took over as the captain of the Indian national team in January 2009, and Rajpal Singh succeeded him later in 2010. Singh is a well known drag-flicker. At a time he was said to have the best speed in the world in drag flick (speed 145 km/h). Under his captaincy, the Indian team managed to clinch the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2009 after defeating Malaysia in the finals at Ipoh. India won the title after a long wait of 13 years. Singh was also the top goal scorer of the tournament.

   Sandeep Singh

    The India men's national field hockey team have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London after a gap of 8 years. The team had a resounding victory over France in the finals of the Olympic qualifiers by beating France 8–1. Ace drag-flicker Singh starred in the final against France by scoring five goals – including a hat-trick – all from penalty corners (19th, 26th, 38th, 49th and 51st minutes). Singh was the highest scorer of the Olympic qualifiers tournament by scoring 16 goals.

    On 22 August 2006, Singh was seriously injured after being hit by an accidental gunshot in Shatabadi train, while on his way to join the national team due to leave for the World Cup in Germany two days later. He was almost paralyzed and on wheel chair for two years of his life. Singh not only recovered from that serious injury, but also established himself again in the team.  Arjuna Award recipient for achievements in field hockey in 2010.

Shahrukh Khan

     Shahrukh Khan was born 2 November 1965, often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Often referred to in the media as "Badshah of Bollywood", "King Khan", "King of Romance" and "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in 75 Hindi films in genres ranging from romantic dramas to action thrillers.His contributions to the film industry have garnered him numerous achievements including fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations. His eight Filmfare Best Actor Award wins make him the most awarded Bollywood actor of all time in that category, tied only with Dilip Kumar. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema. Khan is now regarded as one of the greatest and most influential actors in the history of Indian cinema.

     Khan is the co-founder of Dreamz Unlimited, a production company and occupies the position of CEO and co-chairman of the motion picture production anddistribution company Red Chillies Entertainment and the animation studio Red Chillies VFX. He is also co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders. The year 2007 marked his debut as a television presenter with the Star Plus gaming show Kaun Banega Crorepati. Khan is often labelled by the Media as "Brand SRK" due to his various brand endorsement and entrepreneurship ventures. He is also a regular stage performer and award ceremony host and has been involved in philanthropic endeavors related to Health care, relief funds and children's education, for which he was honoured with the UNESCO's Pyramide con Marni award in 2011.

    Khan is considered to be one of the biggest film stars in cinematic history, with a fan following claimed to number in the billions; in 2011, the Los Angeles Timescalled him "the world's biggest movie star." He has also been regularly featured in the listing of the most powerful names in Indian Cinema and in 2008,Newsweeknamed him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world. Khan has an estimated net worth of over US $540 million(25 billion). He has been married to Indian film producer and interior designer, Gauri Khan since 1991, and together they have two children.

Shami Ahmed

   

    Shami Ahmed was born 9 March 1990 in India, is an Indian first-class cricketer who plays for Bengal in domestic cricket. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He is currently a part of Kolkata Knight Riders squad in the Indian Premier League.A medium-pacer from Amroha UP, Shami Ahmed made his first-class debut in 2010 against Assam, picking up three wickets. He has enjoyed more success in the domestic Twenty20 format, having played eight games, picking up 14 wickets with a best haul of 4 for 24. He was signed by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2011 [Indian Premier League].In the aftermath of good performance in the domestic season, he was selected for the West Indies-bound India A squad in 2012. He shared a match winning partnership of 73 runs for the 10th wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara during India A's unofficial Test match against the West Indies A in June 2012.

Shami Ahmed

   In Ranji Trophy 2012-13 match against Hyderabad in a green top at Eden Gardens, he took 4/36 and 6/71, and scored 15* from 6 balls in the 2nd innings to help his side win the match by 4 wickets, along with Wriddhiman Saha. He also took 7/79 and 4/72 against Madhya Pradesh at the Holkar Cricket Stadiumin Indore in Ranji Trophy 2012-13, but in spite of that his side lost the match by 138 runs. It included a hat-trick in the 1st innings to wipe out the tail.As a result of his good performances in the domestic matches, Shami Ahmed was selected for India's ODI series against Pakistan replacing his Bengal teammate Ashok Dinda and subsequently made his debut in the third ODI at Delhi on January 6, 2013. He returned tidy figures of 1/23 from 9 overs in a low-scoring game that India won by 10 runs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

    Bhuvneshwar Kumar Mavi was born 5 December 1990 in Gurjar family at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is an Indian cricketer who plays for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler and a right-handed batsman. He also plays for Pune Warriors India in the Indian Premier League. He is currently living in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.Kumar made his first-class debut at the age of 17 against Bengal. In the 2008/09 season, he became the first bowler to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in first-class cricket. After good performances in that season, he was handed an IPL contract by Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has also represented Central Zone in Duleep Trophy and Deodhar Trophy.Apart from being a good swing bowler, Kumar is also known for his lower middle-order batting, which makes him a useful all-rounder.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

    After Awana's dismal show in the two T20Is against England, Kumar was selected in the playing eleven of the first T20 day/night match against Pakistan at Bengaluru. He took 3 wickets for 9 runs in 4 overs in the match. He took the wickets of Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal. He had an economy of 2.25 in that match. His efforts were not enough as Shoaib Malik (57* of 50) and skipper Mohammad Hafeez(61 of 44) scored half centuries to ensure Pakistan to successfully chase down 134.He has the best economy rate in a T20I debut, along with Saint Lucian Garey Mathurin (who also took 3/9 on his debut against England at The Oval in 2011.He took a wicket in the very first ball that he bowled in ODIs by dismissing Mohammad Hafeez of Pakistan.

   Bhuvneshwar Kumar plays for Uttar Pradesh, India in domestic cricket. He has also played for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. In the 2nd semi-final against North Zone, Kumar took one wicket with an economy rate of 3.03. Although being a lower-order batsman, he also helped his team in that innings by scoring 128 off 312 balls surpassing all the scores of his team mates and maintained a partnership with 4 batsmen. He consequently became man of the match.In the 2008-2009 Ranji Trophy final to Mumbai, Bhuvneshwar bowled Sachin Tendulkar out for a golden duck although his team lost to Mumbai. He was the first player to consign Sachin Tendulkar to a first-class duck in Indian Domestic Cricket.After good performance in the 2008-2009 season, Bhuvneshwar was handed an IPL contract by Royal Challengers Bangalore but was afterwards bought by Pune Warriors India.

Kareena Kapoor

   Kareena Kapoor was born 21 September 1980, also known as Kareena Kapoor Khan, is an Indian actress who appears inBollywood films. During her career Kapoor has been noted for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary romantic dramas to comedies, period films to major Bollywood productions and less-publicised independent films.Kapoor was initially cast to make her debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Rakesh Roshan's Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000).

Kareena Kapoor

   Born into a family where her parents, Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and elder sister Karisma were actors, Kapoor faced the media spotlight at a young age but did not make her acting debut until the 2000 film Refugee. Her melodrama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. became India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market in 2001, and is one of her greatest commercial successes to date. After receiving negative reviews for a series of repetitive roles, Kapoor accepted more demanding parts to avoid being typecast and was recognised by critics for displaying greater versatility as an actress. Her portrayal of a sex worker in Chameli (2004) proved to be the turning point in her career, and she was later noted for her performances in the critically acclaimed films Dev (2004) and Omkara (2006). She went on to play the lead female role in the Imtiaz Ali-directed romantic comedy Jab We Met (2007, for which she received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress) and the drama3 Idiots (2009, the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time). These accomplishments have established her as a leading actress of Hindi cinema.

   In addition to film acting, Kapoor is a stage performer and has launched her own clothing line (in association with retail chain Globus). She is known for being publicly outspoken and assertive, and is recognized for her contributions to the film industry though her fashion style and film roles (both of which have made her a trend-setter for young women). Since 2007, Kapoor has been in a relationship with actor Saif Ali Khan whom she married in October 2012.

Yogeshwar Dutt 

    

   Yogeshwar Dutt  is an Indian wrestler. He won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Men's 60kg Freestyle wrestling.He started wrestling from a very young age of 8 years. His inspiration was Balraj Pehlwan who was from his native village and he was trained under the guidance of coach Ramphal.Yogeshwar Dutt won the Gold Medal in the 2003 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship.At the Athens Olympics, Dutt took part in Men's freestyle 55 kg and stood 18th.Yogeshwar had lost his father on August 3, 2006 just nine days before he boarded the flight to Doha for the Asian Games.He also sustained a knee injury, but despite all the emotional and physical trauma he managed to win the bronze in the 60 kilogram category at the 15th Asian Games at Doha.On 12 Aug 2012, Yogeshwar Dutt provided a late boost to India's medal collection in the 30th Olympic Games by claiming a memorable bronze in the men's freestyle 60 kg category, thus becoming the second Indian to achieve the feat in the country's Games history. Yogeshwar won a Bronze medal in the Men's freestyle 60 kg at the 2012 London Olympics.

Yogeshwar Dutt

 He had defeated North Korean Ri Jong-Myong in the bronze medal bout thus winning the fifth medal for Indian contingent at the London Olympics 2012.Earlier, Yogeshwar qualified for the 2012 Olympics by winning a silver medal at an Asian qualification tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan where he lost to Iranian Mahmoud Masoud Esmaeilpour Jouybari (2-3, 0-1).At the Olympics he lost to the Russian B Kudukhov 1-0, 2-0 and was knocked out from the pre-quarterfinal round. He got a chance to contest in the repechage rounds as Kudukhov reached the finals of the event.In his first repechage round he went on to beat Franklin Gómez of Puerto Rico with a score of 1-0, 1-0. He had gotten lucky against his opponent, winning the toss on both the occasions to earn a clinch position. Yogeshwar then scored 7-5 to beat Mahmoud Masoud Esmaeilpour Jouybari with an aggregate of counted points 3-1 in Repechage Round 2. Esmaeilpour Jouybari had beaten Yogeshwar at the Asian qualifications earlier that year.He finally beat his North Korean opponent to clinch the bronze medal (0-1, 1-0, 6-0). He was exceptional in the last round, and clinched it in just 1:02 minutes.

Gagan Narang

   Gagan Narang is an Indian shooter, in Air rifle shooting, supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He was the first Indian to qualify for the London Olympics. He won the Bronze Medal in the Men's 10 m Air Rifle Event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London with a final score of 701.1 on 30 July 2012.He was born in Chennai on 6th May 1983 and his ancestors belonged to Samalkha in Panipat district in Haryana. His grandfather then moved from Panipat to Hyderabad. His parents are Bhimsen Narang and Amarjit. Though Gagan Narang was born in Chennai, he was raised in Hyderabad. He touched the gun for the first time at his age of six for shooting down balloons at Chennai Marina Beach carnival. His prowess at shooting was well brought out at that age which he sharpened later.

  Gagan Narang is a gold medalist in the Afro Asian games, 2003 in Hyderabad on October 26, 2003 in Men's 10m air rifle competition.He had won an air rifle gold medal at the World Cup 2006 and followed that event in April 2010.In a pre-Olympic event in Hannover, Germany, Gagan shot a panis air rifle score higher than the world record, 704.3 as opposed to 703.1 set by Thomas Farnik of Austria in the World Cup 2006.Gagan qualified for the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final after he won a gold in the World Cup in China earlier in 2008. Gagan shot a perfect 600 in the qualification round. He scored 103.5 in the final round making total score of 703.5 to gain the universe record.On November 4, 2008 he broke Austria's Thomas Farnik's record, set in the 2006 World Cup final in Granada, Spain. Gagan said his win was special because Barack Obama, who won the United States' Presidential election on same day, was a source of inspiration.

   Gagan Narang added 4 gold medals to the Indian tally at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. In the Men's 10 m air rifle singles event, he shot a perfect 600 which was a new record.Gagan also clinched a silver medal in his pet event at the Asian Games 2010. He also combined with Abhinav Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput to provide the country with another silver, in the team event behind champions China. Both of his silvers were won on the opening day of Asian Games.

   Gagan Narang won the bronze medal in the 10m air rifle event at the 2012 London Olympics with a total score of 701.1 becoming India's first medal winner at the 2012 games. Gagan was just behind the silver medallist Niccolo Campriani of Italy who scored 701.5, while the gold medallist Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania was at 702.1. However he failed to qualify for the finals of the men's 50-metre rifle three positions at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Vijay Kumar

   Vijay Kumar was born 19 August 1985, is a sport shooter from India. He won the silver medal in the individual 25 metre rapid fire pistol event at the 2012 Summer Olympics.Kumar hails from Barsar village of Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh and is presently a serving Subedar Major in the Dogra Regiment (16th Battalion) Indian Army.Vijay Kumar is currently supported by the Olympic Gold Quest initiative. He has been posted at Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow since 2003 where he is being coached by the Russian Pavel Smirnov.

   At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he had won 2 gold medals, the individual 25 meter rapid fire pistol competition and the pairs competition in the same event together with Pemba Tamang. The same year, he won a bronze medal in the Asian Games despite actually finishing fourth because of a rule that prevented China from winning all three medals. The next year, he finished second at the Asian Championship in 25 metre center-fire pistol.He also won a silver medal at the 2009 ISSF World Cup Beijing in rapid fire pistol, where he was defeated by Keith Sanderson by 0.1 points.

  Vijay Kumar won the Silver Medal in the 25 m rapid fire pistol event at 2012 London Olympics.He finished with an average score of 9.767. Kumar has a score of 293 with 7 inner 10s in the first stage. Vijay's silver was the second medal for India at London 2012.Earlier Kumar had failed to qualify for the men's 10 m air pistol finals after finishing 31st on 28 July 2012

Saina Nehwal

   Saina Nehwal born 17 March 1990 in Dhindar, Hisar, Haryana, is an Indian Khel Ratna badminton player who attained a career best ranking of #2 in December 2010 by Badminton World Federation.Saina is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics.She achieved this feat by winning the Bronze medal at the London Olympics 2012 on 4 August 2012.She is the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships. Saina was also the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament, by clinching the Indonesia Open with a victory over higher-ranked Chinese Wang Lin in Jakarta on 21 June 2009. Saina is supported by the Olympic Gold Quest.

   Saina won her second career Super Series title by winning the Singapore Open title on 20 June 2010. She completed a hat-trick in the same year by winning the Indonesian Open on 27 June 2010. This win resulted in her rise to 3rd ranking and subsequently to No. 2. Later in the same year she also won Hong Kong Super Series on 12 December 2010. After experiencing a poor 2011 season, Saina become the first Indian singles player to reach the summit stage of year-ending Super Series Finals defeating two-time All England champion and former World No. 1 Tine Baun in the semi-finals, a feat she repeated in the quarterfinals in the London Olympics 2012. Though she lost in the semi-finals of London Olympics 2012 to Wang Yihan, she secured the bronze medal against Wang Xin. After Xin won the first game 21–18, Xin had to walk out of the match due to aggravation of her knee injury, thus making Saina the winner.Previously coached by S. M. Arif, a Dronacharya Award winner, Saina is the reigning Indian national junior champion and is currently coached by Indonesian badminton legend Atik Jauhari since August 2008, with the former All England champion and national coach Pullela Gopichand being her mentor.

   Saina Nehwal was born in Hisar, Haryana and completed first few years of her schooling from Campus School. Her Father Harvir Singh originally hails from village "Dhindar" which falls under Modinagar Tehsil in District Ghaziabad(U.P). Harvir Singh initially worked in CCS HAU and they then had their residence in the University Campus.He later shifted to Hyderabad & so Saina spent her growing years in Hyderabad, India. Her foray into the world of badminton was influenced by her father Dr. Harvir Singh, a scientist at the Directorate of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad and her mother Usha Nehwal,both of whom were former badminton champions in Haryana. She is the top ranked player (women) in Indian Badminton history. In 2012, journalist and former NDTV editor T. S. Sudhir wrote a biography on Saina.She is India’s highest-paid non-cricketing sportsperson as on September 2012

Mary Kom

   Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, (born 1 March 1983), also known as MC Mary Kom, Magnificent Mary or simply Mary Kom, is an Indian boxer belonging to Kom tribal community of north-eastern state of Manipur.She is a five-time World Boxing champion, and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships. She is the only Indian woman boxer to have qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, competing in the flyweight (51 kg) category and winning the bronze medal.She has also been ranked as No. 4 AIBA World Women's Ranking Flyweight category

   Mary Kom was born in Kangathei, in Churachanpur district of Manipur. Her parents, Mangte Tonpa Kom and Mangte Akham Kom, worked in jhum fields. She completed her primary education from Loktak Christian Model High School, Moirang, up to her class VI standard and attended St. Xavier Catholic School, Moirang, up to class VIII. She then moved to Adimjati High School, Imphal, for her schooling for class IX and X, but could not pass her exam. She did not want to reappear for her exams so she quit her school and gave her examination from NIOS, Imphal and graduation from Churachandpur College.Although she had a keen interest in athletics from childhood, it was the success of Dingko Singh that inspired her to become a boxer in 2000. She started her training under the close eye of M. Narjit Singh, Manipur State Boxing Coach at Khuman Lampak,Imphal.She is married to K Onler Kom and has twin sons, Rechungvar and Khupneivar

   Kom initially tried to hide her interest in boxing from her family, since it was not considered a suitable sport for a woman. However, after her victory in the Manipur state women's boxing championship in 2000, her career became public; her father discovered his daughter's achievement through a photograph in a newspaper. After winning the regional championship in West Bengal, Kom began competing at the international level at the age of 18, only a year after she started boxing. Her international debut was at the first AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in the United States, where she won a silver medal in the 48 kg weight category. She followed this with a gold medal in the 45 kg class at the second AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Turkey in 2002.

   In 2003, Kom won a gold medal in the 46 kg class - she would compete in this class for the next three years - at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in India, and was awarded the national Arjuna Award for outstanding sporting achievement. In 2004, she won gold at the Women's Boxing World Cup in Norway, and in 2005 again won gold at the Asian Women's Boxing Championship in Taiwan and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in Russia. The following year, she won gold at the Venus Women's Box Cup in Denmark and the AIBA Women's World Boxing Championship in India. Her victory in the World Championship was marred by illness; the final had to be suspended in the second round, with Kom leading 19-4.

Sushil Kumar

     Sushil Kumar (born May 26, 1983) is an Indian World Champion wrestler who won the gold medal in the 66 kg freestyle competition at the FILA 2010 World Wrestling Championships, a silver medal in the Men's 66kg Freestyle Wrestling event at the 2012 London Olympics and a bronze medal in the Men's 66kg Freestyle Wrestling event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which made him the first Indian to win back to back individual Olympic medals. Sushil Kumar competed against Tatsuhiro Yonemitsu of Japan in the London Olympics finals. Kumar defeated Leonid Spiridonov of Kazakhstan in the repechage round to win the bronze in Beijing Olympics. This was the second medal for India in wrestling, and the first since K D Jadhav's bronze medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games. On July 2009, he received the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna - India's highest honour for sportspersons.

      Sushil Kumar belongs to a Jat family who comes from the village Baprola near Najafgarh in South West Delhi. Kumar's father Diwan Singh was a DTC bus driver and mother Kamla Devi a housewife. He was inspired to take up wrestling by his cousin Sandeep and his father who was himself a pehlwan (wrestler). Sandeep quit wrestling as the family could only support one wrestler. Kumar trained at the akhada (wrestling school) in the Chhatrasal Stadium from the age of 14. With minimal funds and poor training facilities for wrestling in India, even for the 2008 Olympic team, his family made sure he obtained the necessary dietary supplements by sending him tinned milk, ghee and vegetables.He is a vegetarian.

      Kumar started training at the Chhatrasal Stadium's akhada at the age of 14. Trained at the akhada by Indian pehlwans Yashvir and Ramphal, and later by Arjuna awardee Satpal and then at the Railways camp by coach Gyan Singh, Sushil endured tough training conditions which included sharing a mattress with a fellow wrestler and sharing a dormitory with twenty others. at the age of 18 he became state champ.His first success came at the World Cadet Games in 1998 where he won the gold medal in his weight category. He followed this up with a gold in the Asian Junior Wrestling Championship in 2000.

    Moving out of the junior competition, Sushil Kumar won the bronze medal at the Asian Wrestling Championships in 2003 and followed that up with a gold medal at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships. Sushil Kumar placed fourth in the World Championships in 2003, but this went largely unnoticed by the Indian media as he fared badly in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, in the 60 kg class placing 14th. He won gold medals at the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships in 2005 and 2007. He ranked seventh in the 2007 World Wrestling Championships and won a bronze medal in 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. He also qualified for 2012 Summer Olympics taking place at London and won a silver medal by defeating a wrestler from Kazakhstan.He became the first Indian to win 2 olympic medals

Sourav  Ganguly  

    Sourav Chandidas Ganguly ; (born 8 July 1972) is a former Indian cricketer, and captain of the Indian national team. Presently he is cricket commentator and President of Editorial Board with Wisden India. Born into an affluent Brahmin family, Ganguly was introduced into the world of cricket by his elder brother Snehasish. He is regarded as one of India's most successful captains in modern times. He started his career by playing in state and school teams. Currently, he is the 5th highest run scorer in One Day Internationals (ODIs) and was the 3rd person in history to cross the 10,000 run landmark, after Sachin Tendulkar and Inzamam Ul Haq. Wisden ranked him the sixth greatest one day international batsman of all time, next to Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Dean Jones and Michael Bevan.

    After a series of playing in different Indian domestic tournaments such as the Ranji and Duleep trophies, Ganguly got his big-break while playing for India on their tour of England. He scored 131 runs and cemented his place in the Indian team. Ganguly's place in the team was assured after successful performances in series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Australia, winning the Man of the Match awards. In the 1999 Cricket World Cup, he was involved in a partnership of 318 runs with Rahul Dravid, which remains the highest overall partnership score in the World Cup tournament history.

    Due to the match-fixing scandals in 2000 by other players of the team, and for his poor health, Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar resigned his position, and Ganguly was made the captain of the Indian cricket team. He was soon the subject of media criticism after an unsuccessful stint for county side Durham and for taking off his shirt in the final of the 2002 Natwest Trophy. He led India into the 2003 World Cup final, where they were defeated by Australia. Due to a decrease in individual performance, he was dropped from the team in the following year. Ganguly was awarded the Padma Shri in 2004, one of India's highest civilian awards. He returned to the National team in 2006, and made successful batting displays. Around this time, he became involved in a dispute with Indian team coach Greg Chappell over several misunderstandings. Ganguly was again dropped from the team, however he was selected to play in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

    Ganguly joined the Kolkata Knight Riders team as captain for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 cricket tournament in 2008. The same year, after a home Test series against Australia, he announced his retirement from international cricket. He continued to play for the Bengal team and was appointed the chairman of the Cricket Association of Bengal's Cricket Development Committee. The left-handed Ganguly was a prolific One Day International (ODI) batsman, with over 11,000 ODI runs to his credit. He is one of the most successful Indian Test captains to date, winning 21 out of 49 test matches.Sourav Ganguly is the most successful Indian test captain in overseas with 11 wins.An aggressive captain, Ganguly is credited with having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him, and transforming the Indian team into an aggressive fighting unit.

Sachin  Tendulkar  

    Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, ; born 24 April 1973) is an Indian cricketer widely acknowledged as the greatest living batsman, and second only to Don Bradman in the all time greatest list in Test cricket.In One Day Internationals (ODIs), statistics confirm that Sachin is by far the most successful batsman. In 2002, The Wisden ranked him the second greatest Test batsman of all time, behind Bradman, and the second greatest one-day-international (ODI) batsman of all time, behind Viv Richards.Tendulkar was a part of the 2011 Cricket World Cup winning Indian team in the later part of his career, his first such win in six World Cup appearances for India.He was also the recipient of "Player of the Tournament" award of the 2003 Cricket World Cup held in South Africa.

    Tendulkar won the 2010 Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for cricketer of the year at the ICC awards.He has been recommended for the receipt of the Bharat Ratna award, in fact it has been speculated that the criteria for the award of the Bharat Ratna was changed to allow him receive the award. He is also a member of Rajya Sabha of Parliament of India. Tendulkar passed 30,000 runs in international cricket on 20 November 2009. On 5 December 2012, Tendulkar became first batsman in history to cross the 34,000 run aggregate in all formats of the game put together.At 36 years and 306 days, he became the first ever player to score a double-century in the history of ODIs. Two years later he became the first player to score 100 international centuries. As of December 2012, Tendulkar has played 657 matches in international cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar

    Tendulkar has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan award, India's second highest civilian award, and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, India's highest sporting honour. He was also the first sportsperson and the first one without aviation background to be awarded the honorary rank of Group Captain by the Indian Air Force. Tendulkar has received honorary doctorates from University of Mysore and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. Sachin holds the 18th rank in ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen as of 4 December 2012.On 1 August 2012, Sachin Tendulkar was nominated for the ICC People's Choice award for the third time.In 2012, he was nominated to Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.

   Sachin Tendulkar was conferred with the membership in the Order of Australia (AM) in Mumbai on 6 November 2012. Simon Crean, minister in the Australian cabinet, presented the award to Tendulkar. Julia Gillard, the Australian Prime Minister, was on an official visit to New Delhi in October and had announced Tendulkar's name as the latest recipient of the award. On 23 December 2012, Tendulkar announced his retirement from ODIs.  Tendulkar has already stated that he will not be playing T20 Internationals