My best-ever dream-team

Everyone who follows the game of cricket has, at some point of time, come up with his / her own dream - team. There are lots of famous dream teams by hugely popular celebrities of the game. After following the game for close to 25 years & also reading & seeing the videos of earlier players, I thought it's time to pen down my own dream-team. Ofcourse, I am no pundit of the game & the list is purely based on my observation & assessment of the game. I do not boast of having the deepest knowledge of the game, but I have tried to analyze the said people in the list & this is what I have found out.

No. 1: Sunil Gavaskar (Captain)
The best opener that India has ever produced. Not just because of his staggering 34 centuries, including a few of them against the "dreadful / dangerous" Carribean attack in their own backyard, without a helmet. He is arguably one of the best opener the game has ever seen, atleast in recent times. Also, being a great student of the game, he led the team quite brilliantly, maybe the records don't speak of him highly, but his tactics had largely been good. So I am putting the additional burden of leading my dream-team.
Replacement: None.

No. 2: Virender Sehwag
With one of the best technicians at the other end, I would require someone who is contrasting in nature, yet not dominating in the partnership. Someone who is hungry for the strike, but also sensible enough to rotate the strike when the chips are down. Not many fit into the bill, hence I am choosing Virender Sehwag here. He is one who can keep the scoreboard ticking at a higher pace while Gavaskar blocks one end & there is a possibility of a good partnership building. Ofcourse, here I am assuming that Sehwag plays little bit more sensibly than his usual see-hit attitude.
Replacement: Wasim Jaffer, he has scored hell lot of runs in domestic & hasn't really failed on the few overseas tours he has been with the team.

No. 3: Rahul Dravid
A tricky position. Dravid has glorified the No. 3 position like no other in Indian cricket. He is not just a Wall, he has scored important runs when it mattered. He is old-school bat when it comes to test cricket, but still has scored more than 10000 runs in shorter time than Gavaskar. No. 3 is generally the position where you send the one whose technique / temparatment / attitude is unquestionable.
Replacement: Gundappa Vishwanath, everything that Dravid is, minus the height; he is shorter than even Gavaskar. Very wristy & artistic batsman.

No. 4: Sachin Tendulkar
No doubt in mind, whatsoever. For statistics-lovers, his records speak for themselves. For purists, his approach & beauty of strokes, way of building the innings, taking control of the game, etc is good enough. Plus, he can bowl his turners on any pitch, a reliable fielder (only marred by his height)
Replacement: None.

No. 5: Mohammed Azharuddin
For those who would shout about his match-fixing involvement, I am considering his batting (& fielding) skills in this list. Like Vishwanath (& today Laxman), he was a brilliant wristy batsman & one of the best fielders in world cricket at that time. Someone who can score 3 centuries on debut, certainly can bat.
Replacement: Virat Kohli, just as good as Azhar, maybe even better. Hope he can keep himself cool & calm & doesn't bowl.

No. 6: Vinod Kambli
I still feel, he could have been a bigger & better cricketer than Sachin, had he focussed on his cricket. He was in the news more for wrong reasons than his batting. He faded soon after his twin-double centuries against England in 1991-92. He was strong & hard-hitter of the cricket ball & had a good technique. I would even go bit further & call him a left-handed Sachin. Also being a good fielder & left-handed helps his cause.
Replacement: VVS Laxman, a brilliant wristy batsman & a good slip fielder. The only reason why I am preferring Kambli ahead of Laxman is Kambli's hard-hitting, & left-hand bat. I haven't ignored Laxman's Indian cricket changing 280 against Aussies in Kolkata (2001).

No. 7: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Not the bestest wicket-keeper in India, but certainly innovative & aggressive in terms of batting, hence the natural choice. His hard-hitting is what is usually required from wicket-keeper batsmen at No. 7, & his running between the wickets would shame a 100-meter sprinter.
Replacement: Farokh Engineer, people may argue that there have been better wicket-keepers, Naren Tamhane would certainly be one of them. But I have seen old videos of Mr. Engineer & keeping wickets for the legendary spin-trio, especially in sub-continent conditions, is nothing short of brilliance. Plus, he has opened batting for India, which also suggests he was good at batting skills. Only because Dhoni can change the course of the game in short time with his batting, I have chosen him ahead of Farokh Engineer

No. 8: Kapil Dev
The best fast bowler (& all-rounder) India has ever produced. No parallels in terms of bowling on any pitch.
Replacement: None.

No. 9: Zaheer Khan
To compliment Kapil Dev at other end, we would need someone who is equally good at swing & fast bowling. I haven't seen India produce many fast bowlers in the past 70+ years. Zaheer certainly comes close to Kapil in that sense. His control on the swing, his technique of hiding the ball in the hand till delivering it, and ofcourse his little batting skills (alas we never really saw them with some rarities) make him an automatic choice for the 2nd pacer in the team.
Replacement: Ravi Shastri, one of the finest left-arm bowlers I have seen in the past 3 decades. He has also opened the batting for India on some occassions, so he can bat.

No. 10: Anil Kumble
The best spinner (?) India has produced. His never-say-die attitude, hard work & skill of running through the tail-enders & finishing the innings makes his automatic choice. Since he relied more on his top-spinners & bounce, he could bowl on most pitches with good success
Replacement: None.

No. 11: Erapalli Prasanna
One of the golden-trio who served Indian cricket, chosen purely because he was an off-spinner. He could turn the ball on any wicket & was mightily accurate with his line-length like others of the trio.
Replacement: Bishen Singh Bedi, Srinivas Venkatraghavan