India's greatest-ever Test XI

With India’s recent series victory in Australia, I thought it might be fitting to continue my series of greatest all-time XIs with the nation currently ranked #second in the ICC Test rankings.

There can be no doubt that we are in a golden era of Indian cricket, led by a fast-bowling unit that for the first time in its 89-year Test history, has proven consistently capable of winning Test matches outside of the subcontinent. Of the current side, however, only three make this XI – perhaps an indication that India has always produced greats without putting together a truly complete side.

1. Sunil Gavaskar (1971-1987): 125 matches, 10,122 runs at 51.12, 34 100s, 45 50s
We start things off with the first man from any nation to break the 10,000 run and 30-century mark in Test cricket. Gavaskar stands alone at the top of the tree of Indian Test match openers and few in the history of the game merit mention in the same breath.

Yet for all the batting and run-scoring records the man achieved, perhaps his greatest legacy will always be as that of the first to show the world that an Indian batsman could stand up to and dominate elite fast bowling.

In 27 Tests against the great West Indies sides of the 70s and 80s, the diminutive Gavaskar averaged a remarkable 65 with 13 Test centuries. An absolute genius and an automatic pick for this XI.

2. Virender Sehwag (2001-2013): 104 matches, 8,586 runs at 49.34, 23 100s, 32 50s
Imagine watching this pair actually open the innings in Test cricket. The ultimate dasher at the top of the innings, nobody who has scored 2000 or more runs in Test cricket did so at a higher strike rate than Sehwag’s 82.23. Nobody who was in attendance on Boxing Day 2004 at the MCG (including the author) will ever forget his 195 off 233 balls – a knock that encapsulated who Sehwag was in a nutshell – caught at the midwicket boundary going for a six to bring up his double hundred.

Oddly enough, not nearly talked about as much as his belligerence was his habit of scoring big runs. No Indian cricketer has more than Sehwag’s six Test match double-hundreds and he is one of only four men to score multiple triple-centuries. Appropriately, he brought the first of those triple-hundreds up with a six. Nobody contained Sehwag when he was at his best.

3. Rahul Dravid (1996-2012): 165 matches, 13,288 runs at 52.31, 36 100s, 63 50s
The wall. The ultimate professional and a true gentleman – Rahul Dravid was an institution at first drop for India for a decade and a half. The ultimate rock at number three, nobody in the history of the game faced more deliveries (31,258) or batted for more minutes (44,152) than Dravid.

Five Test match double-hundreds owed itself to his immense powers of concentration with the finest of them all probably being his 233 at the Adelaide oval in 2003, helping the Indians beat Australia in Australia for the first time in 22 years. Another easy selection for this XI.

4. Sachin Tendulkar (1989-2013): 200 matches, 15,921 runs at 53.78, 51 100s, 68 50s
The most runs in history, the most hundreds, the most Test matches played – one could argue that Sachin is second only to Don Bradman as the greatest Test match batsman of all time.

(Duif du Toit / Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Debuting incredibly as a 16-year-old in 1989 (the fifth-youngest of all time), Sachin had five hundreds before his 20th birthday (who will ever forget his 114 at the WACA as a teenager), scored his final hundred aged 37 and was the biggest wicket in world cricket for the best part of the two decades in between.

During this period, nobody played the game with more pressure on his shoulders than Tendulkar, who until the emergence of others like Dravid, VVS Laxman and Sehwag, was often the one shining light in India’s batting.

Like all the greats, Tendulkar performed best against the best – averaging 55 with 11 centuries against the great Australians of the 90s and 2000s in all conditions and a remarkable 53.21 against Australia in Australia. Like Gavaskar, he would be in contention for a spot in a World XI let alone an Indian XI.

5. Virat Kohli (2011-present): 88 matches, 7401 runs at 53.24, 27 100s, 24 50s
If you had told me ten years ago that one day an Indian batsman would come along that would be spoken about in the same breath as the incomparable Tendulkar I would have laughed and sent you on your way.

No Indian cricketer has played the game with the brash confidence and arrogance of Kohli who for some embodies the new generation of Indian cricket. Described by former Indian coach Greg Chappell as “the most Australian non-Australian cricketer of all time” one could argue that the symbol of Indian cricket’s greatest and most prosperous period is Kohli’s flashing blade and unrelenting swagger.

Perhaps Kohli’s greatest attribute though is something Sachin for all his greatness never mastered – the ability to inspire ten others around him to run through a brick wall. He beats out the likes of Laxman, Vijay Hazare, Mohammad Azharuddin, Dilip Vengsarkar and Gundappa Viswanath for the number five spot in our line-up.

6. MS Dhoni (2005-2014): 90 matches, 4876 runs at 38.09, 6 100s, 33 50s, 256 catches, 38 stumpings (captain)
Although Kohli is quickly closing in, MS Dhoni remains the man who has captained India in more Test matches than anyone else (60) and is comfortably India’s most successful wicketkeeper of all time with 294 dismissals.

(Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Commencing as a wild long-haired dasher and short-form specialist, Dhoni transformed into the epitome of the Indian statesman and leader. Often neglected in comparison to his swashbuckling batting was his underrated wicket-keeping, which in the era of the often-compared Rishabh Pant is greatly missed by the Indians.

This, as the wicketkeeper’s position, was the easiest pick of the XI, high praise when you consider the other names in this line-up. Less easy was the decision to appoint him as captain for– a position he narrowly pips Kohli for.

7. Kapil Dev (1978-1994): 131 matches, 5248 runs at 31.05,8 100s, 27 50s, 434 wickets at 29.64, BBI 9/83, BBM 11/146
In 2002, Kapil Dev was voted India’s cricketer of the century ahead of Gavaskar and Tendulkar. Such is the esteem the man is held in.

One of a quartet of great all-rounders alongside Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee, Kapil eclipsed all three to take 434 wickets, the world-record haul for a seamer for six years until surpassed by Courtney Walsh in 2000 and still the standard for Indian seamers. Throw in eight Test hundreds to go alongside those wickets and you have some cricketer.

Of the quartet, only Hadlee had to carry as big a bowling load as Kapil who for most of his career was the only truly ‘better than average’ Indian seamer around. With that in mind, the man would be thrilled that he has some fast-bowling support in this line-up.

8. Ravichandran Ashwin (2001-present): 75 matches, 386 wickets at 25.47, 28 5w, 7 10w, BBI 7/59, BBM 13/140
This is obviously in batting order, but this spot was the last bowling spot picked by me and probably the toughest selection in the line-up as the second spinner’s spot (Kapil Dev’s selection allows us to pick two spinners). I oscillated between Ashwin and Bishen Bedi but ultimately went with India’s incumbent spin king, who is the quickest bowler to 300 wickets in Test history (achieved in 54 Tests).

My knock on Ashwin has always been his form away from the spin-friendly tracks of the subcontinent. The past two months have gone a long way to suggesting that perhaps the man has turned the corner on that, with an excellent recent performance in Australia. Nobody comes close to him in Indian conditions. He beats out the unlucky Bedi and the likes of Harbhajan Singh and EAS Prasanna for this spot.

(Photo by Peter Mundy/Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

9. Anil Kumble (1990-2008): 132 matches, 619 wickets at 29.65, 35 5w, 8 10w, BBI 10/74, BBM 14/149
India’s leading wicket-taker of all time, Kumble is an automatic pick for this XI. One of only two men to take ten wickets in an innings (achieved against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999), the man was a model of consistency for almost two decades and the bowling equivalent of Tendulkar for India in the 90s and early 2000s.

Kumble’s greatest asset as a spinner was his height, standing over 183 cm, which allowed him to generate pace and bounce to combat his lack of prodigious turn. Cricinfo rightly states that no bowler in history won India more Test matches. Enough said.

10. Zaheer Khan (2000-2014): 92 matches, 311 wickets at 32.94, 11 5w, 1 10w, BBI 7/87, BBM 10/149
Only three Indian seamers have taken 300 or more wickets – Kapil Dev, Ishant Sharma (as of last week) and Zaheer Khan. Whilst Sharma has had moments of brilliance, I consider Khan to be the more skilled bowler of the two and having a superior career in totality. My other two serious candidates for this spot were Javagal Srinath and Mohammad Shami.

If Shami keeps going I think he can nab this spot and the fact that we’re in a golden age for Indian fast bowling suggests that one or two others might contend in the years to come but for now I’m happy with Zaheer. He takes the new ball in this XI.

11. Jasprit Bumrah (2018-present): 18 matches, 83 wickets at 21.87, 5 5w, 0 10w, BBI 6/27, BBM 9/86
Perhaps a surprising pick. There is a chance that Jasprit Bumrah’s body never holds up long enough for him to play 50 Test Matches or take more than 150 Test wickets but he’s already done enough to be one of India’s great fast bowlers.

The chief wrecker of Australia’s batting line-up in India’s historic 2018-19 Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory down under, Bumrah’s 21 wickets led all bowlers in that series – perhaps the finest overseas series performance by an Indian paceman.

When picking these teams I generally prefer players with multiple years of dominance and longevity. This pick goes against that mantra, but we are talking about an Indian fast bowler here who averages 25 or under with the ball in Australia, England and South Africa. An Indian fast-bowling unicorn and a truly special cricketer.