
On Wednesday, India’s former test cricket skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named the captain in popular cricket magazine Wisden’s all-time India Test XI.
The famed team has been picked ahead of India’s 500th Test which will be played on Thursday against New Zealand in Kanpur. The team includes former Test captain Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as openers, followed by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, pace legend Kapil Dev and the wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni and pacers Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath and spin stalwarts Bishan Singh Bedi, Anil Kumble. The 12th man is former captain Mohammad Azharuddin.
Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman represent the middle-order with Dravid as the No 3 batsman, followed by Tendulkar and Laxman.
Earlier, after receiving at least 50,000 votes from fans, Cricket Australia also named its India Test XI. Though the former skipper Sourav Ganguly’s name was not there in the Wisden list, he was named as no. 6 batsman in Cricket Australia. The list also included veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh who replaced Bishan Singh Bedi.
Similar to Wisden, the list named Gavaskar and Sehwag as openers with Dravid and Tendulkar as no. 3 and 4 positions.
Kapil Dev led the bowling section with left-armer Zaheer Khan in a two-man pace attack, while offie Harbhajan Singh and leg-spinner Anil Kumble rounded off the fantasy team.