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

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