He was also one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in 2002, ranked fourth in 2007 and second in 2013. As a player, he has been a part of some of India's greatest moments. He played a vital role in the 1999 World Cup victory, being named man of the match in both matches against Australia and South Africa.
In the 2007 World Cup he captained his team to victory over England at Lord's, with an unbeaten knock of 99 from just 103 balls. In 2011, he became the oldest recipient to take a wicket when he dismissed England captain Andrew Strauss in the semi-final at Mohali, which India went on to win.
He was initially allocated the number 12 shirt but during his Test debut (against West Indies) he took 12 wickets for 127 runs to become only second Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to take 12 wickets in an innings on debut.
He has won many domestic awards including The Salve Award (1999), Dronacharya Award (2003), Arjuna Award (2007), Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2007), BCCI Arjuna Award (2011), BCCI Presidential Awards (2012), BCCI Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award (2013) and Arjuna Award for best Indian cricketer (2016).
He represented his country in cricket at four ICC tournaments: 1999 World Cup, 2003 ICC Champions Trophy, 2007 World Cup and 2011 Cricket World Cup.
He has taken 763 Test wickets at an average of 31.18, with 10 five-wicket hauls and nine ten-wicket hauls amongst them. He has also taken 128 One Day International wickets at an average of 27.87 runs per wicket with three five-wicket hauls and four ten-wicket hauls among them.
He shares all Twenty20 International records with Joginder Sharma for most dismissals by a player in matches played, most dismissals by a bowler in matches played and most dismissals by an Indian player in matches played. He has taken 751 T