MOHALI, Nov 8: Veteran spinner Anil Kumble was named India’s Test captain on Thursday as the selectors opted to give Mahendra Singh Dhoni more experience of the five-day game.

Kumble, 37, was chosen to lead for the three-Test series against Pakistan starting later this month at the conclusion of the current one-day series, Indian cricket board official Mohinder Pandove said.

“Kumble has been named only for the Pakistan series,” Pandove told reporters in a brief statement.

Dhoni, 26, who took over as one-day and Twenty20 captain in September, was considered the frontrunner for the Test role after senior pro Sachin Tendulkar turned down an offer from the selectors.

But the five-man selection committee, headed by former captain Dilip Vengsarkar, felt Dhoni’s 20 Tests in two years left the dashing wicket-keeper/batsman too raw to assume the mantle.

Kumble, a veteran of 118 Tests, succeeds his Karnataka team-mate Rahul Dravid, who unexpectedly resigned as captain after the England tour in September for unspecified reasons.

The leg-spinner is India’s most successful bowler and his 566 Test wickets are bettered only by Australia’s Shane Warne (708) and Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan (702).

The new Test captain was announced soon after Dhoni’s home team crashed to a four-wicket defeat against Pakistan in the second One-day International here that levelled the five-match series 1-1.—AFP