India's all-time best Test XI

England v India: Specsavers 3rd Test - Day Five

India has been playing Test cricket for 86 long years, starting from 1932.

Many great players have represented the country in the history of Indian Test Cricket. The contribution of these great players has been immense in making India a powerhouse in Test Cricket.

In the initial years, India used to struggle against the top teams of the World viz, West Indies, England and Australia. However, with experience, they got better.

It is from the 1970s that the Indian Test team slowly but surely started to become a formidable unit. Then in the 1990s, they became one of the best teams in the World at home. However, their away record was still not good. But in the 21st century, the Indian Test team became one of the best in the world. They had one of the best ever batting lineups in the world, and some great match winners in their team.

In this article, we try and pick India's best ever Test Match XI. It is definitely a very difficult job. There will be many great players, who will miss out but hear out the idea first.

Openers:

Sunil Gavaskar : Matches : 125 Runs: 10122 Average: 51.12 Hundreds: 34

Virender Sehwag : Matches : 104 Runs: 8586 Average: 49.34 Hundreds: 23

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Sunil Gavaskar is one of the greatest Test match batsmen, India has ever produced. He has been India's greatest ever test match opener. Gavaskar is thus an automatic choice for the opening slot in Test matches for India.

For the second opener's slot, Virender Sehwag is also an automatic choice. He was the man, who redefined Test opener's role. He showed the world that an attacking player, looking for boundaries and sixes can also be a very successful Test opener.

He scored tons of runs against all major bowling attacks of the world. His attacking style of batting demolished opposition attacks and provided the platform for the team to win Test matches.