500th Test: Dravid India's greatest Test player; Ganguly best captain

In the end, even the mighty Sachin Tendulkar found it impossible to bring down the Great Wall. Yes, it's Rahul Dravid, and not Tendulkar, that you have chosen as your greatest Indian Test player.

We asked you to vote for your greatest player in Indian Test cricket history to celebrate India's 500th Test match.

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Now after your overwhelming response to the KT online poll, we are delighted to announce the winner. 

Dravid, India's finest number three batsman, beat his famous former teammate Tendulkar and the legendary Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to win India's Greatest Test player online poll.

Dravid emerged on top with votes from 44 percent of the readers, while Tendulkar, the most revered cricketer in the world after the incomparable Don Bradman, came second with 35 percent.

Iconic all-rounder Kapil Dev got seven percent while Gavaskar, one of the best opening batsmen in the history of cricket, only got five percent.

Among the recent players, only Virender Sehwag (6 percent) and VVS Laxman (3 percent) managed to get a considerable share of votes.

And interestingly, Sourav Ganguly emerged as the best Indian Test captain. KT readers picked Ganguly over MS Dhoni.

Ganguly got 47 percent of the votes while Dhoni got 37 percent.

Ganguly, despite having the tough task of leading the side after that 2000 match-fixing scandal, managed to inspire India to play an aggressive brand of cricket even in foreign conditions. India recorded some memorable Test wins outside Asia under him. 

But it was under Dhoni's leadership that India became the number one Test team in the world for the first time in 2009.

However, Dhoni was picked as India's best wicketkeeper in history. The 2011 World Cup-winning captain comfortably beat Syed Kirmani with 78 percent of the votes.

KT readers also picked India's win over Australia at the 2001 Eden Gardens Test as its finest victory in Test match cricket.

India stunned the cricket world with a magnificent win in Kolkata despite being asked to follow on by Steve Waugh's Australia with a deficit of 274. The Eden Test got a staggering 55 percent of the votes while the 2004 Rawalpindi Test, which saw India's first ever series win on Pakistan soil, finished second with 12 percent.

VVS Laxman's 281 against Australia at the Eden Gardens in 2001 was rated as the best Indian Test knock by KT readers. Virender Sehwag's 309 against Pakistan in Multan came second. Laxman got 43 percent of the votes while Sehwag, who became the first Indian to hit a triple century in Test, got 25 percent of the votes.

Anil Kumble was the dominant winner in the best bowling performance category. Kumble's famous 10/74 against Pakistan in the 1999 Delhi Test got a staggering 70 percent of the votes. Harbhajan Singh's 13/206 against Australia in the famous 2001 Eden Test came second with 13 percent.

KT Online Poll Winners:

Greatest Indian Test Player

Rahul Dravid

India's most memorable Test win

2001 Eden Gardens win over Australia

Best Indian Test captain

Sourav Ganguly

Best Indian Test innings

281 VVS Laxman against Australia in 2001

Best Indian bowling performance

10/74 Anil Kumble against Pakistan in 1999

Best Indian wicketkeeper

MS Dhoni

Key facts on the three-test series between India and New Zealand, which started in Kanpur on Thursday:

INDIA

Captain: Virat Kohli

Coach: Anil Kumble

Squad: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli (captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar

NEW ZEALAND

Captain: Kane Williamson

Coach: Mike Hesson

Squad: Kane Williamson (captain), Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Mark Craig, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling

HEAD TO HEAD:

Total: 54

India wins: 18

New Zealand wins: 10

Draws: 26

In India:

Total matches: 31

India wins: 13

New Zealand wins: 2

Draws: 16

LAST FIVE TESTS:

2014 - Match drawn, Wellington

2014 - New Zealand won by 40 runs, Auckland

2012 - India won by five wickets, Bangalore

2012 - India won by an innings & 115 runs, Hyderabad,

2010 - India won by an innings & 198 runs, Nagpur,

FIXTURES (all start at 0400 GMT):

1st test - Sept. 22-26, Green Park, Kanpur

2nd test - Sept. 30-Oct. 4, Eden Gardens, Kolkata

3rd test - Oct. 8-12, Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore