Current World XI across all three formats of the game

There are very few cricketers who have been able to excel internationally across all three formats of the game. With Test and T20 cricket, in particular, requiring completely different skill-sets and the schedule being such that there is very little time to adjust to the varying demands of each format, players who are equally good irrespective of the format are worth their weight in gold.Here is a contemporary World XI consisting of such players:

#1 David Warner

Right from David Warner’s international debut against South Africa in T20 cricket in 2009, when he struck 89 off just 43 deliveries with 7 fours and 6 sixes, his ability to completely debilitate the opposition has been evident. But his consistency over the last 12 months or so, particularly in Test cricket, a format he wasn’t deemed suitable for to start off with, has been quite exceptional and has surprised even the staunchest of Warner fans.

There seemed to be a danger of the left-handed opener falling by the wayside after his brawl with England batsman Joe Root just before the start of the Ashes in England last year, as a result of which he missed most of the Champions Trophy as well as the first two Ashes Tests. However, since then Warner has amassed 1,443 runs from 13 Tests at an average of 57.72, perhaps indicating that the incident, if anything, has only spurred him on to do better.

With his focus having been primarily on Test cricket in recent times, he has played just 6 ODIs and an equal number of T20s in the last one year. But an average of 47 and 36.80 from those ODIs and T20s, respectively, clearly illustrates that he is enjoying the best phase of his cricketing career and deserves his place at the top of the order.

#2 Hashim Amla

Hashim Amla, who has amassed 6,415 runs from 79 Tests at 51.32 with a highest score of 311*, was pigeonholed, contrarily to David Warner, as a Test specialist in his early years. But, through his sheer numbers in ODI cricket, which have been a revelation to say the least, he has managed to rightly dispel notions of him being a one-dimensional player.

From 98 games for his country, he has racked up close to 5,000 ODI runs at 54.43, making him one of only two batsmen to average over 50 in both Test and ODI cricket, and he has achieved all this at a strike-rate no less than 88.60. He is also the fastest to 4000 runs in ODI cricket history, having got to the landmark ahead of greats of the ilk of Viv Richards and Brian Lara.

The one question mark, perhaps, hanging over Amla’s head was his record in T20 cricket, but he has shown during the recent World T20 in Bangladesh, where he scored 185 runs from 5 matches at a healthy average of 37, that he is more than capable of adapting himself to the shortest version of the game as well.

#3 Kane Williamson

New Zealand batsman Kane Williamson announced himself to the cricketing world as a player of prominence with a century on Test debut against India at Ahmedabad in 2010, making him one of only 10 New Zealanders to achieve this rare feat, and he hasn’t looked back since.

With 2,377 runs from 34 Tests at an average of 40.28, a record that should only improve as he plays more and more, he is well-placed to establish himself as one of New Zealand’s greatest ever batsmen, possibly alongside Martin Crowe, in the next few years.

While not naturally suited to the shorter formats, the one thing noticeable with Williamson is his constant endeavour to get better at his game, and the results are already starting to take effect. He scored 5 consecutive fifties against India in a 5-match ODI series in New Zealand earlier this year and, with 244 runs from 7 matches, also finished up as the leading run-getter of the recently held CL T20.

#4 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli’s shambolic tour of England a couple of months ago, where he scored 134 runs at 13.40 in Test cricket and 54 runs from 4 matches at 18 in ODI cricket, has probably taken a bit of shine off from what has been an outstanding 2-3 years in international cricket for the 26-year old.

Despite the England series, however, the fact that Kohli still averages just a touch under 40 in Tests and over 50 in ODIs only goes to show how prodigious he was prior to the minor setback.

Focusing a bit more on his issues in England – while the tendency to poke at deliveries well outside off-stump is undoubtedly a weakness in Kohli’s game that he will have to continually address, it was the lack of confidence in his abilities after a few failures that exacerbated his problems on the tour. He has, thankfully, displayed signs of getting back to his dominant best during the recent ODI series against West Indies and has a wonderful opportunity during the upcoming tour of Australia to prove to his critics that the England series was just a mere blip.

He has, after all, scored Test centuries in Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, not to overlook his top-notch ODI record of 5,901 runs from just 142 games with a mind-boggling 20 centuries. He also averages an impressive 46.28 from 28 T20 internationals and is on the verge of scoring 1000 runs in the format for India.

#5 AB de Villiers (C & WK)

South African batsman AB de Villiers, with 7,296 runs from 95 Tests at 51.02 and close to 7,000 runs from 171 ODIs at the exact same average, is rightly acknowledged as the best batsman in world cricket today. Blessed with a vast array of strokes, De Villiers is also one of the most pleasing batsmen to watch when in full flow and has the ability to take a game away from the opposition in a matter of overs,best illustrated by his knock of 69* from just 28 balls against England in the most recent World T20.

Yet, when it comes to saving a Test on the last day, there are few you can think of who are more adept at doing the job than De Villiers,with his excruciatingly slow but match-saving effort, alongside Faf du Plessis, of 33 from 220 deliveries against Australia at Adelaide in 2012 instantly coming to mind.

Considering the fact that De Villiers is still only 30, he comfortably has another 5-6 years at the very top of his game, if not more, and is on course to break all of South Africas batting records in that time.

#6 Faf du Plessis

Although Faf du Plessis made his ODI debut for South Africa only in 2011, with his Test debut coming even later, he has already established himself as one of the core members of the South African outfit across all formats through his sheer consistency with the bat in hand.

He started off his Test career with a bang, making 78 in the 1st innings of the Adelaide Test in 2012 and then following it up with a tenacious match-saving innings of 110* from 376 deliveries. With such a beginning, one can only go downhill, but Du Plessis, to his credit, has managed to come up with performances of such nature time and again, which explains his average of 52.58 from 17 Tests.

As far as ODI cricket is concerned, he struggled to get going to start off with, but his form in the recent tri-series involving Australia and Zimbabwe suggests that he is gradually getting to grips with the 50-over format as well. In 5 matches, he scored a staggering 464 runs at an average of 92.80 including three centuries, two of which were against the might of Australia. In T20 internationals, meanwhile, he averages 34.56 after having scored 553 runs from 20 matches for the Proteas.

#7 Shakib Al Hasan

For a cricketer of Shakib Al Hasan’s all-round ability, he has perhaps not got the recognition he deserves as a result of playing in an extremely poor Bangladesh side where results are hard to come by.

Yet he has gone about his business of playing for Bangladesh with nothing but huge pride and honour, and served as a role model who every young, aspiring Bangladeshi cricketer should look up to. From 35 Tests for his country, he has scored 2,298 runs at 37.06 and taken 129 wickets at 32.37 and, with equally impressive numbers in the shorter formats, is one of the premier all-rounders of this generation.

#8 Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson’s international career seemed to be meandering along before being reinvigorated during the ODI series in England last year, where he took 9 wickets from 5 wickets and more importantly got his confidence back, kicking off a period of unprecedented success for the Australian fast bowler.

In Test cricket, in particular, he has been absolutely unplayable over the last 12 months, especially on pitches with pace and carry, with his express pace perhaps causing the fear of hurt to batsmen who just don’t get the exposure to the kind of hostile bowling that Johnson has dished up any longer.

The linchpin of Australia’s 5-0 triumph against England during the last Ashes series, Johnson took 37 wickets from 5 Tests at an outstanding average of just 13.97, before going on to take 22 wickets from 3 Tests against South Africa and, in the process, helping Australia to a memorable 2-1 series win away from home.

If you are being critical, you could argue that his record of 38 wickets from 30 T20 internationals at an economy rate of 7.28 is slightly underwhelming, but that would be an extremely harsh assessment of a bowler who has provided genuine thrill and excitement to the international game in recent times.

#9 Rangana Herath

Rangana Herath was forced to spend a majority of the early part of his career under the shadow of Muttiah Muralitharan, but he has come to the fore in recent years and taken over the mantle of being Sri Lanka’s premier spinner since the latter’s retirement.

He has taken 260 wickets from 57 Tests, having made his debut way back in 1999, and has played a critical role in Sri Lanka’s success in the longest format in recent years. Although an old-fashioned spinner relying on flight and guile to outfox batsmen, he did show through his breathtaking spell of 5 wickets for just 3 runs during the T20 World Cup against New Zealand earlier this year that he can be effective in the shorter formats, too. He should, perhaps, be given a prolonged run in the limited-overs sides, having played just 60 ODIs and 9 T20 internationals till date.

#10 Dale Steyn

Mitchell Johnson might be the most fearsome fast bowler in the world today, but Dale Steyn, far and away, remains the best and most skilful fast bowler in the world. With a record that can rival the greatest fast bowlers of all-time, having taken 383 wickets from 75 Tests at a remarkable strike-rate of 41.7, Steyn made his Test debut against England back in 2004. A tearaway quick to start off with, Steyn was quite erratic during the early part of his career but gained maturity over time to be able to take wickets not just on helpful pitches but all over the world. There is no greater example of this than Steyn’s record in India where, on largely unresponsive pitches and against some pretty formidable batsmen, he has taken 26 wickets from a mere 5 Tests at an average of 20.23, with the highlight being his match-winning spell of 7/51 in the 1st innings of the Nagpur Test in 2010.

As far as T20 cricket is concerned, he has been meted out harsh punishment during the IPL on quite a few occasions, especially by compatriot AB de Villiers. However, with 55 wickets from 38 T20s at an economy rate under 7 for South Africa, his international T20 record has been exemplary, with his last over against New Zealand in the World T20 recently - where he defended an improbable 7 runs off 6 balls successfully - perhaps being the highlight.

#11 Morne Morkel

There are few bowlers in the game today as menacing as South Africa’s Morne Morkel when on song. Blessed with the ability to bowl rapidly, apart from extracting disconcerting bounce due to his height, Morkel has taken 204 wickets after playing 59 Tests, the first of which was against India at Durban in 2006, and is well poised to add a lot more to that tally in the next few years, especially with Dale Steyn by his side.

His strong suit is undoubtedly Test cricket as far as I’m concerned, but he has over time developed a potent yorker in addition to a good slower delivery, thereby making him more effective in the shorter formats. Over the last 3 years, he has taken 59 wickets from 36 ODIs at an economy rate of 4.90, which is fairly commendable by modern standards, and has also done well in T20 cricket at the franchise level, especially for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL.