Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been named the captain of the all-time India Test XI chosen by cricket magazine Wisden. The celebrated team has been picked ahead of India’s 500th Test which will be played against New Zealand in Kanpur.

The openers in the side are Sunil Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag, followed by Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, all-rounder Kapil Dev and Dhoni the wicket-keeper batsman.

Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman make up the middle-order with Dravid being the No 3 batsman, followed by Tendulkar and Laxman. Dhoni,  currently India’s captain for one-dayer and T20 teams, also remains the wicket-keeper.
Pace legend Kapil Dev also has been named in the dream team.

Also included are pacers Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and spin stalwarts Anil Kumble, Bishan Singh Bedi. Former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin was named the 12th man. Earlier, Cricket Australia, after receiving more than 50,000 votes from fans, also named its greatest India Test XI which included former batsman Sourav Ganguly and veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.

The side, similar to Wisden’s, named Gavaskar and Sehwag as the openers with Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar the unsurprising choices for the No 3 and No 4 positions.  Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly was named as the No 6 batsman and Bishan Singh Bedi was replaced by offie Harbhajan Singh.