Sportskeeda's Top 50 Indian Test cricketers of all-time (20-11)

#15 Dilip Vengsarkar

Dilip Vengsarkar was the backbone of India's middle-order right throughout the 1980s

With his athletic build and upright batting stance, Dilip Vengsarkar was a vital cog in India's batting lineup during his heydays. While his three centuries at the de facto home of cricket during successive tours earned him the sobriquet "Lord of Lord's", there was plenty more to the right-hander's career. ICC's retrospective players' rankings reveal that he was the number one batsman in Test cricket during the 1987/88 season.

Upon starting his career under the resplendent shadows of accomplished stalwarts such as Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath, Vengsarkar struggled to fulfill his enormous promise in his initial years. He came into his own during the 1978/79 home series against a Packer-weakened West Indies team.

His scintillating centuries in Kolkata and Delhi played a crucial role in helping India seal a memorable series triumph. After the retirements of Viswanath and Gavaskar, he became the most experienced batsman in the lineup. The Mumbaikar responded by reeling off a whopping 8 centuries in a fruitful two-year period that also saw him ascend to the role of captaincy.

Career Span: 1976-1992

Statistics: 6868 runs from 116 matches at an average of 42.13 with 17 centuries and 35 fifties