Team India in Tests: All time greatest Test XI

India have now played more than 500 tests, and they've been on the pinnacle of the ICC Test Rankings for more than a year now. India has grown over the years in Test cricket. From Kapil Dev to Virat Kohli, India has seen several different personalities at the helm, but the objective remained the same, win trophies and championships for the country. India has had its share of ups and downs, but more importantly it has always been heading in the right direction. With India nearing 50 away Test wins; let's create an XI that would rule all over the world.

Openers

Virender Sehwag

The Sultan of Multan

There have been few as blessed as Virender Sehwag in terms of Hand-Eye coordination. As an opener, he had an amazing ability to to bat long and score big. His top 3 scores in Test cricket have been: 319, 309 and 293, are testimony of his ability as a runwaway match winner. With his style of batting, India always had the opportunity to win matches through a good session or two. He is the first Indian to score a triple hundred in Tests. Test cricket will always remember him as the dashing opener who changed the approach to the game.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 104 Innings: 180

Runs: 8586 @ avg. 49.34; S.R. : 82.23

100s: 23 50s: 32 200s: 6 300s: 2

Highest: 319

Sunil Gavaskar

The Little Master

Sunil Gavaskar, was the first player who amassed 10,000 test runs. He was India's batting line-up's backbone before the Sachin era. He had the most number of test centuries (34) before Sachin went past him. In his debut series, he had scored 774 runs at an avg. of 154.8 against the mighty Windies in a four Test match series. That is still a record for an Indian in a four match Test series. Along with Kapil Dev, he has been the architect of the Indian cricket and will always hold a special place in every Indian fan.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 125 Innings: 214

Runs: 10122 @ avg. 51.12; S.R.: 66.04

50s: 45 100s: 34 200s: 4

Highest 236

Middle Order

Rahul Dravid

The Wall

India's greatest no.3 to have ever played the game. In Dravid, we believed. His defensive technique was so on point for a Test player that it always left us in awe of him. Remember the 2011 India's tour of England, when every batsman was failing to make an impact in England, it was Dravid who stood like a wall throughout the series and refused to give up. He was a man of determination, strength and sheer will. He will always be remembered as the team man who would do anything for his team's sake.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 164 Innings: 286

Runs: 13288 @ avg. 52.13; S.R.: 42.51

50s: 63 100s: 36 200s: 5

Highest: 270

Sachin Tendulkar

The greatest contributor to the Indian Cricket

Here is a man who picks himself in almost every all-time XIs. Such is the aura of this man. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, holds almost every batting record in Test cricket. He has the most number of hundreds. He has the most no. of runs. He is one of the best things that has ever happened to the Indian cricket. He had a career of 24 years and never did he play for milestones. He has been India's greatest match winner in Tests.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 200 Innings: 329

Runs: 15921 @ avg. 53.79; S.R.: 54.08

50s: 68 100s: 51 200s: 6

Highest: 248

Sourav Ganguly

The Prince of Kolkata

Sourav in many ways, has been the most loved player and the most hated player at the same time. He was so good on the off-side that even Rahul Dravid once said that "On the off-side, first there is God, then Ganguly." His influence on the Indian cricket was much more than just the runs he scored, he took over the captaincy after the Indian cricket saw its worst phase: The Fixing Saga. He is believed to be the architect of the India which lifted the Test mace for the first time.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 113 Innings: 188

Runs: 7212 @ avg. 42.18; S.R.: 51.26

50s: 35 100s: 16 200s: 1

Highest: 239

Lower Order

VVS Laxman

India's Crisis Man

'Very Very Special' Laxman was special indeed. Whenever India was in a spot of bother, the man everyone looked up to was VVS. His exploits in the fourth inning is the testimony of how good a batsman he was. He had a special liking for Australia, and at that time scoring against the mighty bowling attack of Australia was a challenge in itself. In fact, his innings of 281 against the Aussies in Kolkata is still considered to be the best Test innings played by an Indian.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 134 Innings: 225

Runs: 8781 @ avg. 45.5; S.R.: 49.37

50s: 56 100s: 17 200s: 2

Highest: 281

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (WK) (c)

Captain Cool

The most successful Indian captain will walk into this XI as the captain. He took the Indian Test team to new heights during his captaincy stint. He became the only captain to whitewash Australia in a four match Test series (Australia's Tour of India 2013), and also the first captain to draw a Test series in South Africa (India's tour of South Africa 2010-11). He was also the first Indian captain to hold the ICC Test mace. His knock 224 against the Aussies was one of the best innings by a wicket-keeper batsman in recent times.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 90 Innings: 144

Runs: 4876 @ avg. 38.09; S.R.: 59.12

50s: 33 100s: 6 200s: 1

Highest: 224

Catches: 256 Stumpings: 38

Ravichandran Ashwin

The carrom ball king

In recent times, the offie has amassed some numbers that are hard to beat. In the subcontinent, it is hard to look past him for the best spinner in recent times. He has evolved as a player now and has shown us in the ongoing India's tour of South Africa that now he has the game to excel in overseas conditions as well. Add to that, that his batting ability has been growing ever since his debut. He has as many as four Test centuries and always comes up with vital contributions down the order.

Career Statistics:

Batting:

Matches: 57 Innings: 80

Runs: 2145 @ avg. 30.64; S.R.: 55

50s: 11 100s: 4

Highest: 124

Bowling:

Matches: 57 Innings: 107

Wickets: 311 @ avg. 25.57; Eco.: 2.89

5WI: 26 10WM: 7

BBI: 7-59 BBM: 13-140

Kapil Dev

Kapil is India's highest wicket taking pacer.

Kapil Dev has been one of India's biggest match winners of all time. He taught India how to face the toughest of the challenges and come on top of them. He led India to its first ever Test match win at Lord's and then wrapped up the series in the next match. He has been India's only seam bowling all-rounder to play for so long. Another amazing fact about Kapil Dev is that he never missed a Test match because of injuries or illness, this speaks volumes about his fitness level at that time.

Career Statistics:

Batting:

Matches: 131 Innings: 184

Runs: 5248 @ avg. 31.05; S.R.: 94.76

50s: 27 100s: 8

Highest: 163

Bowling:

Matches: 131 Innings: 227

Wickets: 434 @ avg. 29.65; Eco.: 2.78

5WI: 23 10WM:2

BBI: 9-83 BBM: 11-146

Tail Enders

Anil Kumble

Jumbo

Jumbo never had the ability to spin the ball as much as other leg spin legends like Warne. But he had the determination and the patience to make things happen with other variations. He used his height to good effect, used other elements like bounce, trajectory and release points to pick wickets. He was such an intelligent reader of the game that he had all 619 Test scalps planned to perfection. He has given us many memories to cherish, including his 10 wickets in an inning against Pakistan. We all the picture of Kumble playing with a broken jaw etched in our memories, that was the amount of dedication this man showed towards the game and his country.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 132 Innings: 236

Wickets: 619 @ avg. 29.65; Eco.: 2.7

5WM: 35 10WI: 8

BBI: 10-74 BBM: 14-149

Zaheer Khan

The King of Swing

As an Indian cricket lover, every time I hear the words 'Fast Bowler' and I think of this man. Such was his prowess with the ball. He has been India's best pacer for the major part of the last two decades. He was the second pacer to pick 300 Test wickets after Kapil Dev, and I believe he would have had a lot more had he had a partner of his caliber from the other end. He was the lone warrior in the Indian pace battery for a majority of his career. During India's tour of England in 2011, India started on good note with Zak picking up two early wickets, but then he got injured and every Indian fan could watch their 'hope' walking off the field. Eventually he was ruled out of the series and India were whitewashed 0-4 by England. That was the kind of impact this man had.

Career Statistics:

Matches: 92 Innings: 165

Wickets: 311 @ avg. 32.95; Eco.: 3.27

5WI: 11 10WM: 1

BBI: 7-87 BBM: 10-149