Sourav Ganguly [ Images ] is back in the India [ Images ]n Test team after ten months. The former India captain returns for the three-match series against South Africa [ Images ], beginning December 15.

The selectors, who met in Delhi [ Images ] on Thursday, dropped Mohammad Kaif and Suresh Raina [ Images ], who are in the team for the ongoing limited-overs' series, and stripped Virender Sehwag [ Images ] from vice-captaincy. Stylish Hyderabad batsman VVS Laxman [ Images ] has been named Rahul Dravid's [ Images ] deputy.

Zaheer Khan [ Images ] was also rewarded for a good showing in the one-day internationals with a Test berth.

The decision to recall Ganguly comes following a meeting of the selectors and Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sharad Pawar [ Images ] at the latter's residence in Delhi prior to the selection committee meeting.

The Bengal left-hander, who has had reasonable success in domestic matches this season, was expected to make the cut after the team's poor showing in the one-day international series, which it trails 0-3. He was included in place of the injured Yuvraj Singh [ Images ].

Team: Rahul Dravid (captain), Wasim Jaffer [ Images ], Gautam Gambhir [ Images ], Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar [ Images ], Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ] (wicketkeeper), VVS Laxman (vice-captain), Dinesh Kaarthick, Harbhajan Singh [ Images ], Anil Kumble [ Images ], Munaf Patel [ Images ], Irfan Pathan [ Images ], VRV Singh, Zaheer Khan and S Sreesanth [ Images ].

Statistics:

Batsman	Tests	Inns	NO	Runs	Hs	Ave	100s	50s	0s	90s	Ct	St
MS Dhoni	13	20	1	602	148	31.68	1	3	0	0	38	9
R Dravid	104	176	22	9049	270	58.76	23	46	6	9	146	0
G Gambhir	13	21	2	684	139	36.00	1	3	1	2	12	0
S Ganguly	88	140	12	5221	173	40.79	12	25	8	3	59	0
Harbhajan Singh	57	79	18	986	66	16.16	0	2	11	0	30	0
W Jaffer	14	26	0	883	212	33.96	2	6	2	0	15	0
D Karthik	10	13	0	245	93	18.85	0	1	0	1	29	4
A Kumble	110	140	27	2025	88	17.92	0	4	13	0	50	0
VVS Laxman	77	124	14	4698	281	42.71	10	25	9	2	81	0
MM Patel	6	7	2	32	13	6.40	0	0	2	0	3	0
I Pathan	25	32	2	835	93	27.83	0	6	4	2	8	0
V Sehwag	49	81	3	4066	309	52.13	12	12	8	1	38	0
VRV Singh	2	1	0	2	2	2.00	0	0	0	0	0	0
S Sreesanth	5	7	3	75	29	18.75	0	0	2	0	1	0
S Tendulkar	132	211	22	10469	248	55.39	35	41	12	6	82	0
Zaheer Khan	42	54	14	507	75	12.68	0	1	15	0	10	0

Bowler	Tests	Ovs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Best	5WI	10WM	Avg	SR	Eco
MS Dhoni	13	1	0	13	0	0-13	0	0	-	-	13.00
R Dravid	104	20	4	39	1	1-18	0	0	39.00	120.00	1.95
S Ganguly	88	419.2	84	1419	26	3-28	0	0	54.58	96.77	3.38
Harbhajan Singh	57	2526.6	521	7108	238	8-84	19	4	29.87	63.71	2.81
W Jaffer	14	11	3	18	2	2-18	0	0	9.00	33.00	1.64
A Kumble	110	5815.2	1414	15329	533	10-74	33	8	28.76	65.46	2.64
VVS Laxman	77	42	10	100	1	1-32	0	0	100.00	252.00	2.38
M Patel	6	229	49	680	24	4-25	0	0	28.33	57.25	2.97
I Pathan	25	846.2	185	2802	91	7-59	7	2	30.79	55.80	3.31
V Sehwag	49	198.4	33	628	12	3-33	0	0	52.33	99.33	3.16
VRV Singh	2	47	7	158	2	2-61	0	0	79.00	141.00	3.36
S Sreesanth S	5	169.5	41	566	19	4-70	0	0	29.79	53.63	3.33
S Tendulkar	132	555	75	1893	37	3-10	0	0	51.16	90.00	3.41
Zaheer Khan	42	1326.5	266	4398	121	5-29	3	0	36.35	65.79	3.31

Note: Out of the 16 players named in the Indian Test squad, only 12 have played at least one Test against South Africa. Four players -- Dhoni, Munaf, V R V Singh and Sreesanth are yet to play against South Africa.

Only eight players have played a Test on South African soil before. Apart from the four mentioned above, Gambhir,Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik [ Images ] and Irfan Pathan are yet to make a Test appearance on South African soil.

Statistics: Rajneesh Gupta