Gautam Gambhir Names his All-Time Indian Test Eleven

Former World Cup winner now turned politician, Gautam Gambhir recently named his all-time Test XI for India. The southpaw mostly went for the players with whom he shared a decent amount of playing time. Though MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli also made the cut, it was the wrist spinner Anil Kumble that Gambhir opted for as captain of the side.

Gautam Gambhir, in a recent interview with Sports Tak, preferred Sunil Gavaskar and his former partner Virender Sehwag as the two openers. Sunil Gavaskar was the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in Tests, and had 34 Test centuries in the process. As for Virender Sehwag, who scored 8586 Test runs, was one of the most lethal batsman of his time and also struck two triple hundreds in his tenure.

In at Three and Four

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were rightfully named at the number three and four position in Gambhir’s XI. The ‘Wall’ Rahul Dravid was one of the key members of the Indian team in the longest format as he scored 13288 runs. As for the ‘Little Master’ Sachin Tendulkar he had featured in a staggering 200 Tests and scored 15921 runs in the process.

Gambhir picked the current Indian captain Virat Kohli to bat at number five. six till Tendulkar played Test cricket. He also MS Dhoni as the front line wicket keeper batsman, who retired from the format in 2014 with 4876 runs and 294 dismissals from behind the stumps.

The Sole All-Rounder

The World Cup winning captain of 1983 Kapil Dev was the only all-rounder in Gambhir’s team. Kapil Dev’s illustrious career ended with 434 wickets and 5248 runs to his name. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were the two spinners of Gambhir’s side. The duo were the most dynamic in tandem for India. Kumble, with 619 wickets, is India’s highest wicket-taker and third highest wicket taker of all time, while ‘Bhajji’ has 417 wickets in Tests.

Gambhir also went with Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan as the spearhead fast bowlers. Srinath, who played 67 Tests, took 236 wickets in Tests while Zaheer Khan had 311 wickets under his belt.

Gautam Gambhir’s all-time Indian Test XI: Virender Sehwag, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble (Captain), Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath.