Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni but no Virat Kohli among 16 greatest Indian players in Cricket World Cup history

List of Indian cricketers who did their nation proud at game's showpiece event, which enters final two weeks

Sachin Tendulkar played in a joint record six World Cups - along with Javed Miandad - scored a record 2,278 runs, including six centuries and 15 half-centuries, and he helped lift the trophy in 2011. Matthew Lewis / Getty Images

Kapil Dev became the first India captain to win the World Cup, in 1983, when they created a huge upset against the West Indies, who were at the time the best team in the world. Kapil, who hit a memorable 175 against Zimbabwe in a group match, scored 669 runs and took 28 wickets. Trevor Jones / Getty Images

MS Dhoni, left, led India to the 2011 World Cup win after scoring an unbeaten 91 in the final against Sri Lanka. He may not have been one of the most successful batsmen in this competition's history but he has 32 dismissals to his credit as a wicketkeeper.

Yuvraj Singh has scored 738 runs - including a hundred and seven fifties - in the competition, but his claim to fame is being named Player of the Tournament in 2011 after many excellent performances with the bat even as he was quietly battling cancer. Punit Paranjpe / AFP

Mohinder Amarnath famously became the first player to be named Man of the Match in both the semi-finals and final of a World Cup, in 1983, a feat emulated by Australia's Shane Warne in 1999. Amarnath scored 26 and took 3-12 in what was a low-scoring final against the West Indies at Lord's. Adrian Murrell / Allsport UK

Zaheer Khan was one of India’s best fast bowlers in the World Cup, taking 44 wickets to make him the fifth-highest wicket-taker of all time, along with fellow India seamer Javagal Srinath. Zaheer was also India's leading wicket-taker in 2011. Courtesy T10 League

Mohammed Azharuddin led India to the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup, the year they were hot favourites to win the competition. He was brilliant on the field and scored 826 runs, including eight fifties, making him one of the most successful batsmen in the cup's history. Reuters

Javagal Srinath, right, was hot property at the 1996 World Cup, leading the co-hosts to the semi-finals, even though he was bowling on flat tracks. Srinath was India's great "tryer" and was unfortunate not to win a World Cup. But he was, along with fellow fast bowler Zaheer Khan, the most successful Indian bowler at the flagship tournament, taking 44 wickets. Ross Kinnaird / Allsport

Sourav Ganguly might forever be remembered for winning the toss in 2003 World Cup final and electing to bowl first, a decision that proved so costly as Australia piled on 359-2 to win the game by 125 runs. But Ganguly scored 1,006 runs, including four centuries and three half-centuries. Michael Steele / Getty Images

Anil Kumble, left, was part of the World Cup squads that reached the semi-finals in 1996 and final in 2003. In other words, he was unlucky to never lift the trophy in his 18-year career. But he took 31 wickets to be one of the most successful bowlers in World Cup history, while topping the bowling chart in 1996.

Gautam Gambhir may not have enjoyed a hugely successful run at the World Cup, but knew how to bat in ICC tournament finals. He followed up his match-winning half-century in the 2007 World Twenty20 summit clash against Pakistan with a well-compiled 97 - under pressure - against Sri Lanka in the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai. Dinuka Liyanawatte / Reuters

Opener Virender Sehwag played one of the most memorable innings of his career against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. He may have scored just 21 runs off 14 balls that day, but he set the tempo for India to go on and win the game by six wickets at Centurion. Overall, he scored 843 runs, including two hundreds and three fifties in World Cup matches. Punit Paranjpe / AFP

Against Pakistan in Centurion in 2003, Rahul Dravid scored 44 as his 99-run partnership with Yuvraj Singh as victory gave the momentum to reach the final. Dravid memorably kept wickets in that tournament giving his team the option of picking an extra batsman or bowler. Dravid did not win a World Cup, but all in all, he scored 860 runs, including two hundreds and six fifties. Glyn Kirk / AFP

Manoj Prabhakar was one of the most underrated cricketers. He had the rare distinction of opening the bowling and batting for his country. His last match was at the 1996 World Cup, his career ended after Sri Lanka openers Sanath Jayasuriya hammered his bowling in his home ground of Delhi. The medium pace-bowling all-rounder, though, finished with 24 wickets to become of the most successful bowlers in World Cup history. Ben Radford / Allsport

Had it not been for Krishnamachari Srikkanth's aggressive 38 at the top of the order, India would not have managed to post 183 which proved a winning total against the might West Indies. Srikkanth was the player who set the template for scoring quickfire runs in the first 15 overs of a one-day game - a tactic made famous by Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya more than a decade later. Adrian Murrell / Allsport

Balvinder Singh Sandhu, right, may not find his name in the pantheon of India greats. But he will be remembered for bowling out Gordon Greenidge for one with the West Indies on 5-0 in the 1983 final. The fast bowler also took the wicket of Faoud Bacchus to finish with figures of 2-32. It was the bowling performance of his life, and it was one of the main reasons why India won that day. Prasad Gori / Getty Images

Few people can skirt around Sachin Tendulkar's achievements at the Cricket World Cup while discussing his batting genius. His performances whenever the tournament came around - more often that not every four years - were of a different class - perhaps with the exception of 2007 when India were knocked out in the first round.

Which Indian fan can forget his unbeaten 54 coupled with 1-37 against Pakistan in 1992, his chart-topping run in 1996, his hundred against Kenya just days after his father's death in 1999, his 98 under enormous pressure against Pakistan in 2003, and his consistency throughout 2011 making him the second-highest run-getter that year?

Aside from being the highest run-scorer in World Cup history - at 2,278 runs - his lifelong dream of winning the World Cup came true in 2011 as well. These reasons make Tendulkar the greatest Indian to have played in the World Cup.

There are some obvious names in the list, such as cup-winning captains Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni. Other usual suspects include Sourav Ganguly and Mohinder Amarnath. But there are those names of players who may not have had a hugely successful career or World Cup record, but whose performances at a certain juncture in a game turned India's fortunes around for the better.

Take a look at the slideshow above at who else made the list of 16 Indian players who gave their hundreds of millions of fans plenty of joy.