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In an athletic sport like Cricket, it pays well to be tall. We have seen several international examples where fantastic athletes such as Wes Hall, Curtly Ambrose, Morne Morkel, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie and the likes have come in really handy for their respective nations.
Your natural height can actually allow you to function with an added weapon of sorts. The extra pace, the natural talent to generate bounce and the ability at the end of it all to take batters by a surprise are things to relish, especially if you are a lanky cricketer.
That's not to say that tall batsmen haven't done it well for themselves; we have great and charismatic examples in the likes of Sir Kapil Dev and Sir Clive Lloyd too! But where it comes to Team India, there have been several tall cricketers who used their natural elevation and built to cause trouble for the country's opponents. They won countless games for their nation and created the right kind of impact. Think of what Tim David does from the lower order particularly in an IPL in the death overs.
Having said that, let us specifically focus on the tall cricketers who have created a lot of sound impact for Indian cricket:
Here is List of tallest Indian cricketers:
Abey Kuruvilla - 6 feet 5 plus inches
His is a rather strange or sad story in that despite having the natural raw pace that is such a key tenet for a good fast bowler, Kuruvilla's career for Team India didn't really last all that long or walk the extra mile.
Born in Kerala but becoming a noted figure across various destinations in India where cricket is watched with great interest, Kuruvilla used his great physique and athletic frame to do his best for the country. But alas, it wasn't enough as his career, however promising, fizzled out after just 10 Test matches and 25 ODIs.
While he picked as many ODI wickets as the contests he played, he seemed to be going in the right direction where Tests were concerned, picking 25 wickets from just 15 innings.
Despite a very promising display of fast bowling at the famed Bridgetown Test of 1997, where he took 5 for 68, Kuruvilla's heroics with the ball waned out given how badly our batters faltered in the West Indies against the Lara-led side.
Why he wasn't considered again in the natinal team despite some decent showings against Sri Lanka in the games post the Windies series is something one still doesn't quite know or know that well.
Ishant Sharma - 6 feet 4 inches
From bowling Ricky Ponting to generating problems for some of the finest and noted English and Aussie talents, Ishant Sharma was a figure of pure action and energy out on the field. Since Kuruvilla, he's been, by far, the tallest cricketer to have played International cricket for Team India.
A genuine pace bowler and someone who could swing it either way, Sharma was a combination of speed and movement and using that to good perfection, he collected a very respectable tally of 311 Test wickets and not to forget, 115 ODI wickets.
Truth be told, if there was ever a menacing giant for Team India in the middle then it was Ishant Sharma, who has to his credit 199 international appearances for the country.
Shivam Dube - 6 feet four inches
Here's a quality all rounder who can, provided if he plays for India once again, exert a lot of pressure on India's opponents.
His giant six hitting ability and the talent to surprise well set batters thanks to his ability to take wickets with his right arm medium fast deliveries can come handy for India.
He's already played 35 T20I's for the country but just 4 ODI's, though, what must be noted is that his T20I career was taking flight with the left handed batter having already crunched 531 runs at a hefty strike rate north of 140.
But one wonders, when will Dube wear the Indian jersey again?
Venkatesh Iyer - 6 feet 3 inches
It's a shame that a genuine all round talent of Venkatesh Iyer's prowess hasn't really played that many games for India.
The cricketer born in Indore and one that became a household name given his stint with the KKR unit, has thus far, represented India in only 2 ODI's and 9 T20I's. With 1,658 first-class runs already in his kitty from just 28 games, Iyer, who's all of 30, still has lots to offer international cricket.
But the big question in his case is whether he can rediscover himself in the Indian national side? There's tremendous competiton out there and of that there's little doubt.
Venkatesh Prasad - 6 feet 2 inches
For times to come, the mild mannered and soft but frank-talking Venky Venkatesh Prasad will be remembered for that brilliant contest against Pakistan's opener Aamir Sohail in the 1996 World Cup game.
His ability to move the ball and to generate a respectable line and length around the middle and off stump made Venkatesh Prasad in the nineties a key figure in India's fast bowling line-up.
A tall customer and of the tallest Indian cricketers ever to bowl fast, Prasad was a delight with the new ball as well as the slightly old ball in Test cricket.
The Bangalore-born cricketer rounded up his journey for India just 8 shy of 300 international wickets.
Arshdeep Singh- 6 feet 2 inches
One of the finest and most important finds in the fast bowling department for Team India, Arshdeep Singh is fast becoming a household name in the annals of India, after having already become a popular figure in the Punjab IPL camp.
A prominent left-arm medium fast bowler, Arshdeep's height allows him to generate that extra bit of bounce that can trouble even the most well-set batters out in the middle.
He's already been a busy member of the Indian cricket stable for the past few seasons, having already played 9 one day internationals along with 63 T20 internationals for India. From these, the Guna-born fast bowler has already picked 113 international scalps.
As a matter of fact, the left-arm bowler is just 1 shy of 100 T20I dismissals for Team India.
