The year 2016 witnessed some breath-taking One-Day Internationals even though much of it was packed with T20s and Test matches. Heavyweight teams like Australia, India, South Africa were quite brilliant and gave us some wonderful memories to cherish in the 50-over format.
As we end the year, we look back at some of the individuals who starred with both the bat and the ball to get their respective teams over the line in difficult times.
Here, Sportskeeda fans were given the opportunity to pick their best ODI All-rounder of 2016 through a Facebook poll and in a not so tough fight Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh won the poll with 35% of the votes. Australia’s Mitchell Marsh came a close second with 25%.
But then again we had our experts looking at the facts and figures and after combing the votes with what our experts had to say, the result are as follows:
#5 Mohammad Nabi
Afghanistan have had a good year so far in the One-Day format and things are looking quite bright for the minnows. Why wouldn’t they taste success? The Afghans were ably led by their skipper Mohammad Nabi who once again shone with both the bat and the ball to bail his side out in difficult times.
The well-built 31-year-old was quite brilliant with the willow and helped his outfit beat Bangladesh in one of the ODIs in September with an aggressive 49. He also played some crucial knocks against Scotland where he delivered with the ball too. Every time, Nabi has performed, Afghanistan have won. From 12 outings this year the star all-rounder has scored 253 runs at an average of 25.30 with the highest score of 50. He has also picked up 17 wickets, with best of 3/26. Though the fans put him ahead of James Faulkner and Angelo Mathews, Nabi has still a long way to go before he can join that league.
#4 Angelo Mathews
Surprisingly Mathews garnered the least number of votes in the poll. But what a talisman the 29-year-old has been for Sri Lanka after the departure of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. This was one of the reasons why he was placed fourth on our list.
He has had a good run with the bat right from the very beginning of the year where he smashed his way to a 95 against New Zealand. Since then he has scored four half-centuries and only once failed to get off the mark.
With the leather too he has had quite a decent run as he chipped in one or two wickets every now and then. In total, from 13 matches this year, Mathews has scored 520 runs at an impressive average of 47.27. He has also picked up nine wickets at a mean of 22.07.
#3 James Faulkner
Though he has lost a bit of his batting touch of late Faulkner is still considered as one of the best all-rounders in the business. And why wouldn’t he be? The left-arm seamer who can hit the long ball at ease had quite an eventful 2016 where time and again he shone in the bright yellow jersey for the Aussies helping them close a game.
He did not get too many chances to sparkle with the bat, but when he did, the 26-year-old did not disappoint. Now it is difficult for a lower-order batsman like Faulkner to get big scores but a few of his quickfire 20s here and there have helped the Aussies win a few and because of this reason we decided to give him the third spot.
Faulkner featured in 17 games this year and scored 107 runs with an average of 17.83. He also picked up 24 wickets with best figures of 4/38.
#2 Shakib Al Hasan
Though Bangladesh’s did not play too many ODIs in 2016, Shakib Al Hasan was still their go to match winner. The Bangladesh poster boy featured in just 6 games for the Tigers but whenever his team needed him, he delivered. But as luck would have it, he sometimes ended up on the losing side.
In 2016, he first he came good with the ball against Afghanistan and then he has waged a lone battle against England. His wickets and runs could not stop England from winning the series in Bangladesh. But then again his performance was top notch.
Out of six games, he scored 168 runs with an average of 28. He also picked up 9 wickets with best of 4/47. Even though the voters picked him as their all-rounder of 2016, our experts differed citing the lesser number of matches he has played and therefore he was given the second spot.
#1 Mitchell Marsh
The 25-year-old has grown in stature in the last year or so. He has had a very impressive 2016 where he was Australia’s go-to man with both the bat and the ball. Now, Marsh is a powerful lad and can hit the ball a long way, also with his broad shoulders he can generate quite a bit of pace off the wicket and therefore he has been successful.
He struck a wonderful hundred against India in Sydney at the beginning of the year and then went on to grab a few 70s. He also played a key role in the last series against New Zealand where he managed 77 runs and two wickets.
Overall in 2016, Marsh has amassed 624 runs from 23 games at an average of 42.80. With the ball, he has pocketed 21 scalps with best of 3/32. The performances made our experts disagree with the voters who placed him second and therefore he was adjudged the winner for the ODI all-rounder of the year.
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