Gautam Gambhir names his all-time India Test XI; appoints Anil Kumble captain

Gautam Gambhir has always praised Anil Kumble and his leadership skills. Rather recently he also claimed that the leg-spinner would’ve broken a lot of captaincy records, if he had led India for a longer period. Gambhir, for the same reason, has gone on to appoint Kumble as the captain of his all-time India Test XI which also features Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni.

The former India cricketer and the current BJP MP in Delhi has picked Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag as his openers. Both the players were exceptional at the top of the order during their playing days and went on to score 10,122 and 8586 runs respectively in their Test career. Undoubtedly, the best ever Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar occupied the number three and four positions in the team.

Both the players once captained the national team and their achievements are known to everyone. While Dravid amassed 13288 runs in 164 Tests at an average of 52.31, Sachin scored 15921 runs in landmark 200 Tests.

Kapil Dev only all-rounder in Gautam Gambhir’s Test XI

Gautam Gambhir, while picking the XI during an interaction with Sports Tak, went for Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni at five and six which already makes the batting line-up look extremely dangerous. The former is the current Indian captain who is scaling heights with every match he plays while Dhoni retired from the format in 2014 but still remains the best wicket-keeper India had with 294 dismissals to his name.

India’s first World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev is the only all-rounder in the XI which also strengthens the team in both the departments. He is regarded as one of the finest all-rounders the game has ever witnessed. Gambhir’s Test XI’s bowling attack comprises of Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath with the leg-spinner leading the team.

This quartet led India to many victories during the late 1990s and the 2000s decade. As far as Kumble’s record as captain is concerned, he led the team in 14 Tests winning three and losing five before eventually hanging his boots from international cricket.

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