India's Best Test 11 So Far

Ever since the Indian national cricket team acquired Test match status in 1932, it has produced some of the greatest cricketers the world has seen. In these 82 years, we have seen several great batsmen and bowlers. Many of the games all-time greats have had a chance to play for thecountry.Now taking all of those cricketers in their prime, let us form the all-time Indian Test team. Any all-time list is bound to start an argument, and this is the best team that I could form.There are two great players who deserved to be in this list, but I couldnt add them due to the obvious restrictions.NOTE: This is the personal opinion of the author and not of Sportskeeda as a whole.

#1 Virender Sehwag

Sehwag is the most devastating opening batsman to play for India. His greatest knocks as an opening batsman were 195 against Australia, 309 against Pakistan and 319 against South Africa. For this team, Sehwag can maintain the tempo of the innings and ensure a high run-rate.

#2 Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar was the greatest batsman of his time; at his peak, he dominated the best bowlers of the world. He can be a great companion to Sehwag as the other opener. With Sehwag maintaining a high run rate, Gavaskar can build a strong foundation for the rest of the lineup.

#3 Rahul Dravid

Dravid is probably the best No. 3 batsman ever after Sir Don Bradman. If this team loses an early wicket, it will be time for one of the most reliable batsmen in history to show up.

#4 Sachin Tendulkar

Okay. Let’s move on.

#5 Sourav Ganguly (captain)

No offense to MS Dhoni, but Sourav Ganguly is the best captain India has had. India lost face in 2000 during the players’ involvement in the match fixing debacle. The country desperately needed a leader.

It was then that Ganguly stood up. He brought aggression, youth and a vision to Indian cricket. Due to him, the team got back on the map in no time.

He was no mug with the bat either; his assertiveness against the spinners in particular would be really useful in the middle order.

#6 M. S. Dhoni (wicketkeeper)

India has had quite a few great wicketkeepers in its history like Nayan Mongia and Kiran More, but MS Dhoni is by far the country’s best wicketkeeper-batsman of all time. Dhoni has great flexibility, presence of mind and reflexes which are critical attributes for any wicketkeeper. And he is also an excellent middle-order batsman who can play with the tail-enders.

Note: I could easily include VVS Laxman here, and make Rahul Dravid keep wickets. But Dravid proved to be an average wicketkeeper in his career, and in the Test format you need a specialist for such an important role.

#7 Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev is undoubtedly the best all-around player in India’s history. He brought amazing weapons to the team with his great fast bowling, and he also had incredible stamina.

Kapil grabbed 434 wickets and became India’s top wicket taker before Anil Kumble broke his record. He was also a very competent batsman who saved India many times from dire situations.

#8 Anil Kumble

It would be blasphemous to not include the only Indian bowler to pick up all 10 wickets in an innings. Anil Kumble is arguably the best Indian spinner ever; he generated great spin and bounce on sub-continent pitches through his height.

Kumble was almost unplayable on Indian soil in the second innings, and he sometimes surprised us with the bat too.

#9 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh is India’s most successful off-spin bowler. Like Kumble, he was a great spin weapon for India in his days. His “doosra” could test any great batsman of any time.

‘Bhajji’ can entertain the crowd with the bat too, whacking the ball to all parts of the ground.

#10 Javagal Srinath

Javagal Srinath is India’s most successful fast bowler, second only to Kapil Dev. After Kapil retired, Srinath filled his shoes as India’s next pace spearhead. He could produce vicious inswingers and bouncers and finished his career with 236 Test wickets.

#11 Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan is yet another great Indian fast bowler who had success mostly on overseas pitches. Though erratic at the beginning of his career, Zaheer later developed his bowling arsenal which included a swift inswinger, outswinger, cutter and an almost-unplayable yorker.