Best Fielders XI of all time

With the advent of fast-paced T20 cricket, the dynamics of the way cricket game is played has changed. Nowadays, the impetus is more on the overall fitness of players compared to the previous generation when only players skill was the criteria for selection into the National team. All the International teams these days employ different fitness evaluation methods like YOYO test to gauge the fitness levels of the cricketers before considering them for selections. The main reason for this is the demands of modern-day cricket where every player is expected to be agile on the field and save as many runs as possible for their team. So let's take a look at some of the best fielders the game has seen.

In this Slideshow, players are selected based on their fielding as well as their batting or bowling credentials in International cricket.

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Openers - Herschelle Gibbs and David Warner

Controversial but Talented openers

Swashbuckling openers Herschelle Gibbs and David Warner will open the innings for this XI. Both have been prolific run-scorers for their respective International teams. In spite of being talented, both players careers have been marred by controversies.

Herschelle Gibbs is one of the best fielders of this generation. He was very agile and energetic on the cricket field throughout his career. His athletic fielding ability can be attributed to his previous background in the rugby sport. He was a versatile fielder, he could dive extravagantly, he lethal at throwing the ball towards stumps from anywhere in the field and also had one of the safest pairs of hands. He turned matches dramatically from difficult situations and put his team in favorable position through his extraordinary fielding efforts on several occasions. He has held a total of 210 catches throughout his International career.

David Warner has been a live wire on the cricketing field ever since his debut. His hand-eye coordination and quickness are the most important factors which make him a dangerous fielder. He is a very safe catcher be it in the deep or inside the circle. The best aspect of his fielding is his ability to cover the ground quickly and with this ability, he saved many runs for his team in the slog overs, which proved detrimental to the final result of the matches on several occasions.

The two are selected in this XI as openers after considering both fielding and batting attributes.

Middle Order - Ricky Ponting (C), AB Devilliers (WK), Yuvraj Singh, Jonty Rhodes, Kieron Pollard

Ricky Ponting

The middle order is filled with exemplary fielders from around the world. The most successful ODI Skipper in the history of cricket, Ricky Ponting will lead the side and play at on down. Everyone remembers Ponting because of his batting accolades, but he was also one of the best fielders in the world during his playing days. He was a very safe catcher and deadly accurate while throwing the ball at stumps to create runout opportunities.

AB de Villiers will serve as the wicketkeeper to this side. He is one of those few people around the world who is excellent at everything he does. Also, he is world renowned for his acrobatic fielding and is one the greatest batsmen to ever play the game.

Jonty Rhodes is an automatic selection in any fielders related XI.

Flamboyant players Yuvraj Singh and Kieron Pollard will round off the middle order. These two will serve as All-rounders in this XI. Yuvraj Singh along with Kaif created the benchmark for fielding in India at a time when the team was void of athletic fielders. Yuvraj has always been an exceptional fielder by taking phenomenal catches for the most part of his career. He is regarded as one of the best fielders India has ever produced.

Pollard is one of the best fielders to come from West Indies. He is well-known for his acrobatic catches and perfect ground fielding in the deep during slog overs.

Bowlers - Ravindra Jadeja, Trent Boult, Mitchell Starc, Tim Southee

Exceptional fielders

Bowlers were generally not known for their athletic fielding skills till the last decade. The demands of the game were different back then. The bowlers usually refrained from doing extravagant dives or taking acrobatic catches as they wanted to stay injury free. But now in the present generation, all-rounded skills are very essential for any player to be selected for National Team. Every player in the team is expected to be athletic enough these days. Adhering to these conditions the players are molding themselves from junior level to be ready for Stern International Cricket.

These four bowlers Boult, Jadeja, Starc, Southee belong to this newer mold of players who believe in all-around skills as they have developed into premium fielders for there respective teams in spite of being premiere bowlers.