NEW DELHI: India’s celebrated skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday was named the captain of the reputed cricket magazine Wisden’s all-time India Test XI.
The team, which was announced to mark India’s 500th Test match starting on Thursday against New Zealand in Kanpur, includes former Test skipper Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as openers, according to a release by Wisden India.
Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman make up the middle-order with Dravid being the No. 3 batsman, followed by Tendulkar and Laxman.
Dhoni, currenty India’s captain for one-day and T20 teams, also remains the wicket-keeper.
Pace legend Kapil Dev also has been named in the dream team.
Also included are pacers Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and spin stalwarts Anil Kumble and Bishan Singh Bedi. Former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was named the 12th man.
Earlier, Cricket Australia, after receiving more than 50,000 votes from fans, also named its greatest India Test XI, which included former batsman Sourav Ganguly and veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
The side, similar to Wisden’s, named Gavaskar and Sehwag as the openers with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar the unsurprising choices for the No. 3 and No. 4 positions.
Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was named as the No. 6 batsman and Bishan Singh Bedi was replaced by offie Harbhajan Singh.
Kapil Dev led the bowling department with left-armer Zaheer Khan in a two-man pace attack, while leg-spinner Kumble and offie Harbhajan Singh rounded off the fantasy team.
The team:
Wisden Test XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan, Bishan Singh Bedi, Mohammad Azharuddin (12th man).
Cricket Australia’s India XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni (captain, wk), Kapil Dev, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan.
