Shivlal Yadav - India - Batsman

An off-spinner by trade, Shivlal Nandlal Yadav, played 35 Tests and 7 ODIs for India. His Test debut came at a time when the famous Indian spin quartet (Erapalli Prasanna, Srinivas Venkataraghavan, Bishen Singh Bedi and BS Chandrasekhar) was heading towards its conclusion.

With the kind of success Shivlal's predecessors had tasted during their careers, it was always going to be difficult to fill their shoes. However, Shivlal did remarkably well to stay involved in the Indian Test setup for almost 8 years. Along with Ravi Shastri and Dilip Doshi, he formed a formidable spin trio in the early eighties.

Not someone who could get the ball to turn big, Shivlal was always a dependable option for the captain. Being economical as well as possessing extraordinary levels of stamina made him a very reliable bowler. Shivlal had a great debut series against Australia as he picked up 24 wickets in 5 Tests, including three 4-wicket hauls. His instant success led to the omission of Venkataraghavan in his favour.

A dip in form in 1981/82 saw Shivlal lose his place in the team, but he was recalled when the West Indies visited India in 1983. He managed to pick up a 5-wicket haul in the first innings of his comeback match in Bombay (now Mumbai). In a 3-match Test series against Australia in 1985/86, he bagged 15 wickets. In the final Test in Sydney, he produced his career-best match figures of 8/118 and helped India enforce the follow-on.

His best figures in an innings came against Sri Lanka in 1986. Playing in Nagpur, his 5/76 in the first innings played a vital role as India won the game by an innings and 106 runs. He became a member of the 100-wicket club in his penultimate Test against Pakistan in 1987. He also has 8 wickets to his name in a 7-match long ODI career.

After retirement, Shivlal served as a national selector and is famously remembered for sacking Mohammad Azharuddin as captain. From 2000-2009, he was the secretary of Hyderabad Cricket Association and in 2013, he was named as BCCI vice-president. In 2014, the Supreme Court appointed him as the interim chief of the BCCI for all the non-IPL affairs.

By Sidhant Maheshwari