The greatest ODI XI of all time

Disclaimer: The following article is the opinion of the author and does not reflect that of Sportskeeda.

Over the years, cricket has evolved a lot, more specifically ODI cricket. Initially, when the ODI game started it was viewed as a mini Test match where the batsmen treated the opening phase like a Test match and gradually increased the scoring rate. Then came the 1996 World Cup which changed the dynamics of batting at the top of the order. Romesh Kaluwitharana and Sanath Jayasuriya went all guns blazing in the first 15 overs, consistently scoring 100 runs during the period.

However, with the advent of T20 cricket, ODIs have been radicalized. Gone are the days when batsmen treated it as a reduced Test match; the new age players see it as an extended T20 match. Such has been the proficiency of the modern-day batsmen that scores in excess of 350 runs have become just par these days.

Back in the day, Sunil Gavaskar scored 36 runs in 174 balls in a World Cup match, now we see a certain AB de Villiers scoring a ton in just 31 balls. Bowlers have so many varieties and variations that the term "line and length" has been pushed into oblivion.

So, we look at the players who have revolutionised the ODI game, mastered it, and have gone on to leave a mark on this beautiful game, players whose achievements' have stood the test of time, players who have brought a whole new audience to the game, players who could play in any sort of condition. In short, arguably the greatest 11 players in the history of limited-overs cricket.

The team combination will be of 5 batsmen, 1 Wicket-keeper, 1 All-Rounder, 4 bowlers (3 pacers and 1 spinner).

#1 Sachin Tendulkar (India)

It’s a no-brainer, simply put; he is one of the best ODI batsmen of all time for the amazing longevity and the sheer volume of the runs that he has scored.

How a neck injury to Navjot Singh Sidhu changed the landscape of ODI batting forever. Asked to open the batting for the first time in limited overs, Sachin annihilated the Kiwi bowlers to score 82 runs off just 49 balls at Auckland's Eden Park and it is fair to say that he never looked back since, taking ODI batsmanship to another level, charting unheralded territories. He went on to become the first batsman to score an ODI double century.

“I didn’t see Don but to me, in all my years associated with the game, I haven’t seen a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar,” said Viv Richards in a eulogy to the ‘Little Master’.

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50
SR Tendulkar	1989-2012	463	452	18426	200*	44.83	21367	86.23	49	96

As shown in the above stat, Sachin holds the record for most matches, innings, runs scored, balls faced, most 100's, most 50's. He was also was the first man to score 200 in limited overs international cricket, with an average of almost 45 which is exemplary for an opener, and his strike rate of 86 is an underrated aspect of his game.

The World Cup is the pinnacle of ODI cricket and needless to say, Sachin dominated almost each edition of the World Cup barring 2007 and finally managed to win the elusive World Cup Winners Medal in 2011 in home soil, thereby achieving almost everything possible in the game. He has also won the player of the tournament in the 2003 world cup after finishing runners-up to Australia.

Contenders: Sourav Ganguly, Saeed Anwar, Gordon Greenidge, Rohit Sharma and Mark Waugh

#2 Hashim Amla:

The mighty Hash – Beard like Grace, bats with grace.

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A contemporary great, Amla’s selection will raise a few eyebrows among readers. Firstly, he has just played 137 ODI innings and never seem to be in the limelight. He calmly goes on about doing his job which is to score runs, and he has scored a truckload of them.

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s
137	134	10	6445	159	51.97	7238	89.04	23	30	646	41

Amla is a classy player, great timer of the ball, a wristy player who is pleasing on the eye and seldom slogs the ball which makes him a purist’s delight. When he made his test debut in 2004, not many would have backed him to become the ODI player that he is today, mainly because of his playing style which is text-book style orthodox.

Amla has the best stats for opening batsmen who have opened in 50 innings, as shown in the table below. His career batting average is close to 52 and the most astounding piece of stat associated with Amla is his strike rate of 89. To shed some light on that, Chris Gayle and Matthew Hayden who are perceived to be destructive openers have a strike rate of 86 and 79 respectively.

Player	Inns	Runs	Average	SR	100s	Inngs Per 100
Hashim Amla	120	5978	53.37	89.73	21	5.71
Rohit Sharma	59	2771	52.28	88.10	7	8.43
Sachin Tendulkar	340	15,310	48.29	88.05	45	7.56
Tillakaratne Dilshan	173	7293	46.45	89.29	21	8.24
Brian Lara	52	2166	46.08	74.71	5	10.40

Viv Richards had set the records for fastest to 3000, 4000, 5000 and 6000 runs in ODI cricket. AB De Villiers broke a few of those and then came Kohli who eclipsed Richards’s achievements. However, Hashim Amla has rewritten every single record. Now he holds the record for the fastest to reach multiples of 1000 ODI runs (2000 – 6000) runs.

He has scored 23 ODI centuries in just 134 innings. One innings which aptly summarizes Amla’s ODI career is the 153* he scored against the West Indies at the Wanderers, a match more vividly remembered for AB’s blitzkrieg of 149(44). He never seems to be the main man, but inexorably he makes tonnes of runs.

Contenders: Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chris Gayle and Mathew Hayden.

#3 Virat Kohli

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Virat Kohli’s Batting – Song of Ice and Fire

The youngest player in this XI, he is every bit a legend himself. The current poster boy of Indian cricket has gone from strength to strength ever since making his debut as a teenager 8 years ago. Within a short span of time he has established himself as one of the all-time greats. Batting at #3 for India, he has become the main stay for India in all formats of the game. He averages 51 in ODI’s, totally unheard of for a top-order batsman before.

In the last 2 and half decades, few of the finest #3 batsmen have been stalwarts in their own right - people like Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Kumar Sangakkara. Virat Kohli’s skills is a combination of all them. He bats aggressively like Ponting, he is an accumulator like a Dravid/Kallis and he is very classy a-la Sangakkara. So all-in-all he is the complete #3 batsman, the best of the lot.

The main aspect of Virat’s batting is his ability to handle pressure; he thrives batting in crunch situations. He not only sets up huge chases, but also finishes them. Be it the 133* at Hobart, 183 at Dhaka, twin centuries against Australia at Jaipur and Nagpur chasing over 350 both the times. He has already scored 15 hundreds at a whopping average of over 61 while chasing.

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0
Virat Kohli	2008-2016	171	163	23	7212	183	51.51	8016	89.97	25	36	10

He has already won a Champions trophy, World Cup and will be looking to add a couple of more tournaments to his resume.

Contenders: Martin Crowe, Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Kumara Sangakkara.

#4 Sir Viv Richards

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Smokin Joe – Smoked the ball to all parts of the ground

The name in itself is enough to explain the choice. King Viv is the greatest ODI batsman of all time.

The game has not seen another batsman with the swag that King Viv exhibited. Sir Viv described himself as an artist at work while batting, he was an artist no doubt, at the same time he was ruthless, cold-blooded and brutal the way he dismantled bowling attacks after attacks throughout his career. He was additionally motivated whilst playing in England due the prevalent racism, then, making him all the more dangerous.

Viv Richards - ODI numbers’ in England.

Matches	Inns	NO	50s	100s	HS	Runs	Avg	Cat
31	29	8	5	4	189*	1345	64.05	11

“There have been giants of the game, contemporary and since, batsmen of vast pedigree and achievement: Greg Chappell, Lara, Tendulkar, Ponting, Dravid, Kallis, Sangakkara, Hayden and others. Each on his day could reduce an attack to rubble. But Richards had an aura given to no other. Truly he was scary." – Mike Selvey, former English cricketer and a cricket writer now, aptly describes the greatness of Viv.

Richards scored at an astronomical strike rate of 90 runs per 100 balls, when all his peers were hovering in the 60’s and low 70’s. He was well ahead of time and for a period of 15 years he was at the Zenith of batsmanship. Had there been T20 cricket during his time, we might have seen an even destructive avatar of the king.

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0
Vivian Richards	1975-1991	187	167	24	6721	189*	47.00	7451	90.20	11	45	7

He has won 2 World Cups, won the Man of the Match in the 1979 Final scoring a splendid 138* against the Englishmen at Lords.

Contenders: Javed Miandad, Brian Lara, Dean Jones, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Aravinda de Silva

#5 AB De Villiers

Mr 360, Superman and all-in-one machine

What do we say about AB; when talent meets inventiveness, audacity and fearlessness, we get a batsman of the ilk of ABD. He is an amalgamation of every possible attribute that could be associated with a batsman, rather sportsmen in general. ABD is, perhaps, one of the few ‘complete’ batsmen the game has ever seen. Our generation has not been privileged enough to see Sir Viv Richards bat, but this guy has gone a long way in offsetting that loss.

With shots all around the park Mr. 360, as he is widely called, is a nightmare to all the bowlers. “AB de Villiers is the definition of a Cricketing Genius” – Michael Vaughan, former England captain going gaga over AB.

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0
AB De Villiers	2005-2016*	206	197	34	8742	162*	53.63	8753	99.87	24	48	6

AB has already scored over 8700 runs in ODIs at a staggering average of over 53 and improbable strike-rate of 100. To put it into perspective, in the ODI history among people who have scored over 2000 runs only 2 players have managed a better strike rate than AB, Shahid Afridi – 117 and Virender Sehwag – 104 but their averages are 23 and 35 respectively. ABD is the only player in the history to score at a rate of 100 and keep up an average of over 50.

He holds the record for the fastest ODI 100 when he swashbuckled his way to a 31 ball century against the West Indies at Jo’burg. He is also an exceptional fielder, possibly the best all-round fielder post Jonty Rhodes.

He is yet to win a cricket World Cup, irrespective of that he will go down in the history of the game as an all-time great.

Contenders: Michael Clarke, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Yousuf, Mike Hussey and Mahela Jayawardene

#6 MS Dhoni (WK, Captain):

Finish it like MS – “Iceman”

The top 5 pretty much pick themselves. On to #6, we look at possible candidates and analyze their careers. Michael Bevan and MS Dhoni are the two standout performers who have scored the most runs batting down the order.

Statistical comparison: MS Dhoni and Michael Bevan.

Player	MS Dhoni	Michael Bevan
Matches:	278	232
Innings	241	196
Not Outs:	67	67
Aggregate:	8918	6912
Average:	51.	54.
Balls Faced:	9989	9320
Scoring Rate:	89.28	74.16
Highest Score:	183*	108*
5Os:	60	46
100s:	9	6
Ducks:	8	5
4s:	691	450
6s:	192	21
Opened Batting:	2	1

Both MS Dhoni and Bevan have similar averages, however, Dhoni towers above Bevan with a strike rate close to 90 compared to the latter’s 74.

Bevan in the 90’s was the best finisher, with his ability to pick gaps at ease, convert those 1’s into 2’s and run like a machine but he is not known for his 6 hitting abilities. That is where the difference comes between MSD and Bevan, Dhoni has scored 170 sixes and 240 fours more than Bevan, this ability to find the ropes consistently gives Dhoni the nod ahead of Bevan as the finisher in the team.

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
278	241	67	8918	183*	51.25	9989	89.27	9	60	691	192	261	89

Dhoni as a batsman alone is enough to warrant a place in most ODI teams, but that is not the only facet of his game. Although he might not produce the football goalkeeper kind of dives behind the wickets, Dhoni is an efficient keeper and undoubtedly the best in the game when it comes to stumpings, with 261 catches and 89 stumpings he dons the gloves of this all-time 11.

While his test captaincy lacked imagination and leaves a lot to be desired, in the limited overs format he is a different beast altogether. He has won almost 60% of ODI’s, also leading the Indian national team to Champions Trophy and World Cup victories.

Like the popular idiom goes “Kill 2 birds with 1 stone”, Dhoni fills 4 positions; as a batsman, finisher, wicket-keeper and Captain. So overall he brings great value to this all-star team.

Contenders: Michael Bevan and Mark Boucher

#7 Lance Klusener

“Zulu” – Almost won the World Cup single handedly

The ODI game has seen many brilliant all-rounder’s; Klusener, Pollock, Kallis, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Shahid Afridi and Andrew Flintoff. Sir Gary Sobers played just one ODI game, otherwise he would have been a starter in any team.

Kallis is an out-and-out top order batsman who could bat only one way, he will be wasted at #7, Botham was a better test all-rounder than an ODI player. Imran Khan was an inspirational captain, bowler, batsman who was at his best in the top order. However, like Kallis, his strike rate of 72 is not something suited to bat at the lower order.

Statistical comparison: Lance Klusener and Kapil Dev.

Player	Lance Klusener	Kapil Dev
Matches:	171	225
Batting
Innings:	137	198
Not Outs:	50	39
Aggregate:	3576	3783
Average:	41.1	23.79
Scoring Rate:	89.92	95.07
Highest Score:	103*	175*
50s:	19	14
100s:	2	1
Ducks:	13	13
4s:	293	294
6s:	76	66
Opened Batting:	10	3
Bowling
Overs:	1222.4	1867
Balls:	7336	11202
Maidens:	46	235
Runs:	5751	6945
Wickets:	192	253
Average:	29.95	27.45
Economy Rate:	4.7	3.72
Strike Rate:	38.21	44.28
4 Wickets in a Match:	7	4
Best:	6/49	5/43

Both Klusener and Kapil scored almost the same amount of runs. Kapil’s strike rate of 95 is something that has to be lauded; Klusener is not very far behind scoring at almost 90. “Zulu” has a better average of 41 when compared to Kapil’s 24. Klusener has scored same number of boundaries as that of Kapil in 60 fewer innings. Batting wise Zulu is a better prospect compared to Kapil.

Comparing the bowling records of both, one thing is clear, Kapil at 3.72 was more economical than Lance’s 4.70, both have similar bowling averages, but Klusener was more of an attacking bowler who took a wicket every 38 balls compared to Kapil’s 44. Kapil edges out Klusener in bowling mainly due to his economy.

Overall, it is very hard to choose between Kapil and Zulu, but Zulu being a batter batsman and a proven finisher makes the cut as an all-rounder in the team.

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Av	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct	St
171	137	50	3576	103*	41.10	3977	89.91	2	19	293	76	35	0

Lance Klusener was at his devastating best in the 99 cricket world cup winning the Player of the series award. If not for Allan Donald’s foolishness in the semi-finals, who knows, he might have finished with a World Cup Winners’ medal and the team wouldn’t be labeled as “Chokers”.

Contenders: Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Andrew Flintoff, Shaun Pollock and Shahid Afridi.

#8 Wasim Akram

Sultan of Swing – Swing it like WAZ

Moving to the bowlers now, Wasim Akram is an automatic choice to lead any bowling attack in the world. The Sultan of Swing, arguably the greatest left-arm fast bowler the game has ever seen, bamboozled batsmen all over the world for almost 2 decades.

He had everything that one could ask from a fast bowler, be it In-swing, out-swing, seam movement off the pitch, pace, sharp bouncer, wide yorker, swinging yorker, reverse swing, slower balls and on top of all that an intelligent cricketing brain which could out-think the batsmen all the time.

Wasim Akram is the second highest wicket taker in ODI cricket with 502 wickets, second only to Murali’s 534. He was an attacking bowler in every sense of the word, boasting a strike rate of 36 balls per wicket and a meager 23 runs per wicket.

Mat	Inn	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	SR	Eco	4w	5w
356	351	18186	11812	502	5/15	23.52	36.2	3.89	17	6

As shown in the stats below, Wasim Akram was a handy lower order batsman who could strike big as indicated by his strike rate of 88.

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	Ct	St
356	280	55	3717	86	16.52	4208	88.33	0	6	88	0

Perhaps, the best reverse swing bowling spell in an ODI match was bowled by Wasim Akram in the finals of the 92’ Cricket world Cup when he helped Pakistan clinch its one and only World Cup triumph. He was awarded the player of the match for his efforts with both bat and ball.

Contenders: Mitchell Johnson, Allan Donald, Dale Steyn and Zaheer Khan

#9 Waqar Younis

The original “toe-crusher”.

Over the years the game has seen many fast bowlers, but only a handful of them were really fast. Such bowlers sent shivers through the spine of the batsmen on their run-up.

Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee, Shane Bond, Mitchell Johnson and Dale Steyn were the select few bowlers who consistently bowled above 150KMPH in ODI cricket.

Shane Bond’s career was curtailed to just 82 matches due to various injuries. Akthar and Johnson were consistently inconsistent. Steyn surprisingly has an average ODI record when compared to heroics in the test arena.

Waqar Younis and Brett Lee were the two bowlers who consistently performed in ODI cricket bowling at a rapid pace. Although Waqar in the latter half of his career cut down on his speed due to injuries, he was still quick and nippy.

Statistical comparison: Younis and Brett Lee.

Player	Waqar Younis	Brett Lee
Overs:	2116.2	1864.1
Balls:	12698	11185
Maidens:	143	141
Runs:	9919	8877
Wickets:	416	380
Average:	23.84	23.36
Economy Rate:	4.69	4.76
Strike Rate:	30.52	29.43
4 Wickets in a Match:	27	23
Best:	7/36	5/22

Both Waqar and Lee have taken more than 375 wickets. The average, economy and strike rate is almost identical to that of Lee. But Waqar’s ability to reverse swing the older ball made it really difficult for the batsmen to hit him in the death overs. He had tremendous control in bowling the yorkers and back then it was a regular sight of batsmen getting cleaned up by his pacy in swinging yorkers.

The Burewala Express as he is famously known formed a deadly combination with Wasim Akram. He, along with Wasim Akram terrorized every batting attack in the world. The two W’s were the main reason why the Pakistan team was dominant in ODI cricket throughout the 90s.

Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
262	258	12698	9919	416	7/36	7/36	23.84	4.68	30.5	14	13	0

Waqar holds the record for the most 5 wicket hauls in ODI cricket. His best bowling spell of 7/36 came against England at Leeds when he shot down 7 English batsmen before the team reached the score of 60.

Pakistan won the 1992 world cup but Waqar missed the tournament due to injury. He lost the 1999 world cup finals against the Aussies. He ended his career without winning any ICC tournaments nevertheless, his legacy will remain forever.

Contenders: Brett Lee, Lasith Malinga, Shane Bond, Shoaib Akthar and Mitchell Starc

#10 Muttiah Muralitharan

Smiling Assasin – Need a wicket, call me.

Murali is the bowling equipoise of Sachin Tendulkar. The leading wicket-taker in the history of the game is an automatic starter, not just for the records alone but the way he weaves magic with a cricket ball in his hands. He has confused batsmen all over the world with his spin and subtle variations.

While the McGraths and Akrams always had the support of the Lees, Gillespies, Warnes, Waqar Younis and Akhtar from the other end, the story is totally different with Murali. He has often been a one-man army for the Sri Lankan bowling barring little support from Vaas during the early noughties and Malinga during the latter part of that decade. He played both Robin and Batman for the Sri Lankans.

Although the Western Media chooses to be prejudiced about the legality of his action, that will not belittle his achievements and his contributions to our beautiful game of Cricket.

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4	5
M Muralitharan	1993-2011	350	341	18811	12326	534	7/30	23.08	3.93	35.2	15	10

Murali has picked up a total of 68 wickets at the cricket World Cup, second only to McGrath’s 71. He has played in 3 World Cup finals in total, losing 2 and winning one in 1996.

Contenders: Shane Warne, Harbhajan Singh, Saqlain Mushtaq and Anil Kumble.

#11 Glenn McGrath

The Pigeon – Nothing thin about the records though.

Glenn McGrath is the epitome of consistency among bowlers. “Pigeon” troubled every batsman in the world with his nagging line and length bowling. Bowling in the Mid 130’s at best, he made the ball talk, and the batsmen dance to his tunes. Such was his accuracy that he could pitch the ball on a dime and move it as and how he wanted.

Although not blessed with express pace, he had a mean bouncer which surprised even the best of the batsman making them play false shots. One such instance was in the 2003 World Cup Final, where he induced Sachin to play a half pull/flick shot off a short ball, thereby ending any hopes of India chasing an improbable 360 to win.

An economy of 3.88, taking a wicket every 34 balls, giving away only 22 runs gives a clear sign that he was both an economical bowler as well as attacking bowler. He could do both the jobs of holding one end tight and going all out attacking to take wickets at the same time.

Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
250	248	12970	8391	381	7/15	22.02	3.88	34	9	7	0

He has won 3 World Cups, finishing as the Player of the Tournament in the 2007 edition in the Caribbean.

Contenders: Joel Garner, Shaun Pollock, Curtly Ambrose and Chaminda Vaas.