India's all-time left-handed Test XI

Left-handed cricketers, for some mysterious reason, always appear more elegant than their right-handed counterparts irrespective of whether they are batting or bowling. While there have been a few ugly-looking left-handers, with the likes ofWest Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and South African chinaman bowler Paul Adams comingto mind, the majority of them seem to make playing cricket look ridiculously easy on the eye.Be it David Gowers driving through the off-side or Brian Laras nonchalance while playing spin, there is a certain gracefulness and ease to their cricket, which theright-handers seem to lack.On the occasion of International Left-handers Day, here is an Indian all-time left-handed Test XI:

#1 Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir made his Test debut for India in 2004 but wasn’t, initially, able to translate his runs in domestic cricket into international success. In and out of the national side on a regular basis, Gambhir’s frustrations were mounting, as he had to live with the fact that his place in the side would be in jeopardy every time that he failed.

In fact, Gambhir had reached a stage in his career, post his exclusion in the Indian squad for the 2007 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean, where he had fallen out of love with cricket and was considering quitting from the game altogether.

But things took a turn for the better when he was included in the victorious 2007 T20 World Cup squad and played a match-winning knock of 75 against Pakistan in the final. After that, he earned a comeback into the Test team and became, for a period of time, one of the best opening batsmen in the world.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#2 Nari Contractor

Nari Contractor is, perhaps, one of the bravest cricketers to have ever played the game. While an average of 31.58 from 31 Tests is not great by any means, it shouldn’t be forgotten that he was robbed of his best years when, at the age of 28, he was hit on the skull by a bouncer from Charlie Griffith in a practice game against Barbados in 1962. Contractor’s life was in serious danger, and it needed several emergency operations for him to be rescued. He did attempt to stage a comeback to Test cricket a couple of years later, only for the efforts to go in vain.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#3 Ajit Wadekar

Despite Ajit Wadekar’s noteworthy contributions with the bat for India over several years, he will always be remembered for leading India to historic series victories in the West Indies and England in 1971.

It took Wadekar 8 years after making his First-class debut for Bombay to get his first cap for India, but he didn’t take long to establish himself in the Indian team once he got his chance. In addition to being a reliable No.3 batsman, he will also go down as one of the finest slip fielders in the history of Indian cricket.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#4 Sourav Ganguly (C)

Sourav Ganguly is, without a doubt, one of the most elegant southpaws to have played the game. He made his Test debut for India in 1996 and, over his 12-year long Test career, scored 7000 runs from 113 Tests at an average of 42.17. He relied on timing against the quicker bowlers and especially cut loose on anything wide of off-stump. He was also an excellent player of spin bowling, never allowing spinners to settle into a nice line and length by using his feet to devastating effect.

He was also a very good captain and made the team believe in the early 2000s that they were capable of competing overseas.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#5 Vinod Kambli

Vinod Kambli, considered a precocious cricketing talent, came into the limelight along with Sachin Tendulkar, his good friend, when they put on an unbroken world-record partnership of 664 runs in a school match. It looked like Kambli’s prodigious ability wouldn’t go to waste when he notched up two hundreds and double-hundreds each in his first 7 Test matches. He was particularly severe on spin bowling, but his weakness against short-pitched bowling soon came to the fore. Word spread around quickly, and he was unable to find a way out of his problems, curtailing his career to a mere 17 Tests in which he averaged 54.20.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#6 Yuvraj Singh

No cricketer, perhaps, has had as many highs and lows as Yuvraj Singh. The fact that Yuvraj was diagnosed with cancer just a few months after playing a pivotal role in India’s triumphant 2011 50-over World Cup illustrates the up-and-down journey he’s had as an international cricketer. Blessed with tons of cricketing ability, he would be right in thinking that he has underachieved in his Test career till date.

An average of below 35 from his 40 Tests is underwhelming for a cricketer of his ability, but that record has been glossed over because of the fact that he is, indisputably, one of India’s best one-day players ever.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#7 Parthiv Patel (WK)

Given his Test debut against England in 2002 at the tender age of 17, he showed that he can handle himself at the top level with some tidy performances to start off with.

But he was dropped a few Tests later as a bit of inconsistency crept into his game. The fact that he has made just 20 Test appearances until now can be attributed to the supremely talented MS Dhoni who came along a couple of years later, giving other wicketkeepers no chance of staking a claim with his outstanding performances.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#8 Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan’s career has gone off the rails in recent years, a pity considering the vast potential he displayed at the beginning. Having the ability to swing the ball both ways, he has taken exactly 100 wickets off 29 Tests and would be hoping to add to his appearances in the future.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#9 Zaheer Khan

Zaheer Khan is the only world class fast bowler India have had in the last decade, and it’s not surprising, then, that he has had a major role to play in most of India’s recent overseas victories. He has had the burden of carrying the Indian bowling on his shoulders away from home for a long time and has done so with aplomb.

He was extremely quick early on in his career but had to slow down his pace with time as a result of injuries. However, he has become smarter as a bowler over time and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of a batsman quickly, thereby retaining the same effect as earlier. He has taken 311 wickets in 92 Tests, the 4th highest wicket-taker among Indians and only behind Kapil Dev when it comes to fast bowlers with the other two, ahead of him, being spinners in Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#10 Bishan Bedi

Bishan Bedi was considered one of the best spinners in the world during his era. He possessed a smooth, rhythmic action, which helped him extract turn and bounce from any wicket, and was never afraid to toss the ball up irrespective of the situation. He took 266 wickets from his 67 Tests. While that is an excellent record, you can’t help but feel that he would’ve picked many more wickets had he played in a stronger Indian team than that of the 1960s and 70s.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here

#11 Dilip Doshi

Dilip Doshi should consider himself unfortunate that a majority of his playing career coincided with that of Bishan Bedi. If it hadn’t, he would have easily played more than the 33 Tests that he did for India.

Debuting at the age of 32, he took 114 wickets from those 33 Tests, thereby becoming only the 2nd bowler, Clarrie Grimmett being the first, to pick up 100 Test wickets after making his debut past the age of 30.

Flat 75% off on IPL merchandise here