Top 3 Indian all-rounders of all-time in Tests

In Test cricket, India has produced many great batsmen over the years, from the likes of Lala Amarnath, Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Viswanath, and Dilip Vengsarkar in the earlier years, till the modern day greats like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, and Virat Kohli.

In the bowling department also, India has produced many champions like Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Bishen Singh Bedi, B Chandrasekhar, Zaheer Khan, and Javagal Srinath. But in the department of all-rounders, India could only produce a handful of great players in their long history. In this article, we talk about the best-ever Indian all-rounders, who performed brilliantly and made their country proud in Test cricket.

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#3 Vinoo Mankad

Right-hand batsman and left-arm orthodox bowler

Vinoo Mankad is one of three cricketers to have batted in every position during his Test career.

Vinoo Mankad was India's first real world class all-rounder in Test cricket. At a time when India was not a superpower in Test matches, it was players like Mankad, who were the pillars of the team. He played some memorable innings with the bat, which includes his record 413 run opening partnership with Pankaj Roy, against New Zealand. He also bowled some memorable spells in Test cricket. He achieved some of the unique feats like scoring 100 and taking 5 wickets in an innings in the same test match. Mankad is surely of the greatest test all-rounders India has ever produced.

Matches: 44 | Runs: 2109 | Batting Average: 31.47 | Hundreds:5 | Highest Score: 231 Wickets: 162 | Bowling Average: 32.32 | 5 wicket hauls: 8 | 10 wicket hauls: 2

2) Ravichandran Ashwin

Right-hand batsman and right arm off-spinner

Ravichandran Ashwin's record at home is enviable

Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the pillars of the present Indian test squad. He has been a prolific wicket taker and India's biggest match-winner with the ball in the last decade of test cricket. Ashwin started off his career as an unorthodox off spinner who could also bat a bit. From there, he developed himself both with the ball and the bat, and became a genuine all-rounder. He is at present one of the best all-rounders in world cricket.

Matches: 70 | Runs: 2385 | Batting Average: 28.73 | Hundreds:4 | Highest Score: 124 Wickets: 362 | Bowling Average: 25.36 | 5 wicket hauls: 27 | 10 wicket hauls: 7

1) Kapil Dev

Right-handed batsman and right arm fast medium bowler

Kapil Dev is undoubtedly India's greatest all-rounder of all time

Kapil Dev is one of the best match-winners that India has ever produced and could have easily walked into playing XI only as a bowler or as a batsman. With the ball, Dev showed the world that an Indian pacer can also win them Test matches. With the bat, he was one of the greatest lower-middle order batsman of all time. He scored more than 5000 runs and played many match-winning knocks with the bat. He ended his career as the highest wicket-taker in Test matches, with 434 scalps to his name. Kapil Dev is considered to be one of the best all-rounders in the history of Test cricket.

Matches: 131 | Runs: 5248 | Batting Average: 31.05 | Hundreds: 8 | Highest Score: 163 | Wickets: 434 | Bowling Average: 29.64 | 5 wicket hauls: 23 | 10 wicket hauls: 2