Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named as the skipper of Wisden's all-time greatest India Test XI side. The 35-year-old, whose life will soon be portrayed in the silverscreen in Bollywood movie "Dhoni: The Untold Story", has received the honours ahead of Sourav Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin.
Ganguly does not even feature in the 11-member team, while Azharuddin has been named as the 12th man.
The opening batsmen in the team are Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman make the list as the middle-over batsmen.
Veteran Indian all-rounder Kapil Dev along with Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan have been named as pacers, while legendary Bishen Singh Bedi, Harbhajan Singh and Team India coach Anil Kumble are the spinners.
Wisden, one of the most reputed cricket magazines in the world, announced the team to mark India's 500th Test match starting on Thursday against New Zealand at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
India will take on the Kiwis in a three-match Test series and a five-match ODI series.
Dhoni, who played a total of 90 Test matches in his career between 2005 and 2014, holds a number of records as the former India Test cricket team captain. He has the most wins by an Indian captain in Test cricket and led India to the numero uno position in the ICC Test rankings for the first time ever in 2009. Dhoni also inspired the Men in Blue to become the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series in 2013.
Wisden's All-Time India Test XI side
Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni (captain, wicket-keeper), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Bishan Singh Bedi. Mohammad Azharuddin is the 12th man.
