Who would be in the greatest one-day international XI of all time?
In the run-up to the World Cup, BBC Sport is giving you the chance to decide.
From Tuesday, 3 February, you can vote in Sportsday Live, with the results being revealed in the Tuffers & Vaughan Show on BBC Radio 5 live on Monday, 9 February.
To help you choose, we asked the Test Match Special team to select their XIs, from which we compiled a squad.
The only criterion we set was that the players must have appeared in a one-day international. Performances in World Cups did not carry any extra weight.
That squad is broken down into opening batsmen, middle-order batsmen, all-rounders, wicketkeepers, pace bowlers and spin bowlers.
Opening batsmen (two to be chosen)
Hashim Amla (South Africa)
ODIs: 107; Runs: 5,359; Average: 56.41; Strike rate: 89.61
A Test number three who has thrived at the top of the order in limited-overs internationals, with the highest average of any batsman to have scored more than 2,000 runs. Reached 5,000 ODI runs in only 101 innings - a record, and some 13 faster than second-placed Sir Viv Richards.
Chris Gayle (West Indies)
ODIs: 263; Runs: 8,881; Average: 36.85; Strike rate: 84.22
The greatest entertainer of them all? Gayle has dominated the Twenty20 game but has also scored more ODI runs than any other West Indies batsman except Brian Lara. One of only three batsmen - along with Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi - to hit more than 200 sixes and also has 158 wickets to his name.
Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
ODIs: 445; Runs: 13,430; Average: 32.36; Strike rate: 91.20
Others had dabbled with the role of top-order dasher, but it is Jayasuriya who can lay claim to being the first of the modern, ultra-attacking openers. Firmly announced himself on the international stage during Sri Lanka's remarkable success at the 1996 World Cup and his 12,740 runs as an ODI opener is bettered only by Tendulkar. Also weighed in with 323 wickets.
Virender Sehwag (India)
ODIs: 251; Runs: 8,273; Average: 35.05; Strike rate: 104.33
The only batsman with more than 4,000 ODI runs to have scored them at better than a run a ball, Sehwag decimated attacks with minimal footwork and a thirst for finding the boundary. His 219 against West Indies was the second double hundred in ODI history and came in the same year that India lifted the 2011 World Cup.
Sachin Tendulkar (India)
ODIs: 463; Runs: 18,426; Average: 44.83; Strike-rate: 86.23
Most ODIs, most ODI runs, most ODI hundreds - all records held by Tendulkar, who was also the first man to score a one-day international double hundred. A Test number four, more than 15,000 of his ODI runs came at the top of the order in a career that was crowned with the 2011 World Cup win in his home city of Mumbai.
Middle-order batsmen (three to be chosen)
Michael Bevan (Australia)
ODIs: 232; Runs: 6,912; Average: 53.58; Strike rate: 74.16
A finisher before the rest of the world knew what a finisher was, Bevan made a career of dragging Australia over the line in run-chases, often with only the tail for company. A two-time World Cup winner, Bevan's average is the highest of any retired player and of all of ODI batsmen to have registered more than 6,000 runs.
AB de Villiers (South Africa)
ODIs: 179; Runs: 7,459; Average: 52.16; Strike rate: 97.16; Catches:92 (as keeper); Stumpings: 5.
The epitome of the modern, three-format batsman, De Villiers can destroy an attack with classical strokeplay, ingenuity and raw power. The fastest man to 7,000 ODI runs, but that record is nothing compared with the devastation wreaked on the West Indies on 18 January. A 16-ball fifty, a 31-ball century, both the fastest in ODIs, in an innings of 149 in 44 balls that contained a record-equalling 16 sixes. De Villiers has also claimed 97 dismissals on occasions when he has played as wicketkeeper-batsman.
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
ODIs: 378; Runs: 11,739; Average: 39.52; Strike rate: 74.24
A 22-year-old Inzamam showed his talent in the semi-finals of the 1992 World Cup, hitting 60 from 37 balls to defeat New Zealand and send Pakistan to a final against England that they would win. His large frame often made him a figure of fun, but a combination of touch and power put him the sixth on the all-time runscorers' list.
Brian Lara (West Indies)
ODIs: 299; Runs: 10,405; Average: 40.48; Strike rate: 79.51
A slayer of attacks, with huge backlift usually followed by a flowing cover drive or a one-legged pull shot. Most famous for his individual records in Test cricket, Lara is one of only three non-Asian batsmen (along with Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis) to have registered more than 10,000 ODI runs.
Clive Lloyd (West Indies)
ODIs: 87; Runs: 1,977; Average: 39.54; Strike rate: 81.22
With hunched shoulders and thick glasses, Lloyd was a world away from the modern cricketing athlete, but led West Indies' rise in the 1970s and was captain for the World Cup triumphs of 1975 and 1979. He was also a powerful destroyer of bowling in his own right, demonstrated by his 85-ball 102 in the inaugural final against Australia.
Ricky Ponting (Australia)
ODIs: 375; Runs: 13,704; Average: 42.03; Strike rate: 80.39
A three-time World Cup winner, who twice captained Australia to the trophy, hitting 140 in the 2003 final victory over India. His 13,704 runs and 30 centuries are numbers bettered only by Tendulkar, while his electric fielding resulted in 160 catches, the second-highest of all time.
Sir Viv Richards (West Indies)
ODIs: 187; Runs: 6,721; Average: 47.00; Strike rate: 90.20
The 'Master Blaster', perhaps the most devastating batsman of all, laying waste attacks with a maroon cap on his head and chewing gum in his mouth. A two-time World Cup winner, including a man-of-the-match performance in the 1979 final. However, it is for an unbeaten 189 against England that he is best remembered, an ODI record that stood for 13 years.
Steve Waugh (Australia)
ODIs: 325; Runs: 7,569; Average: 32.90; Strike rate: 75.91
Won two World Cups, 12 years apart, in which time he transformed himself from useful all-rounder to the personification of Australian toughness. Batted at seven and bowled first-change in the 1987 final victory and captained Australia to their 1999 success. In that tournament, Waugh's 120 dragged Australia from the brink of elimination against South Africa, when Herschelle Gibbs famously "dropped the World Cup".
*If Kumar Sangakkara and AB de Villiers are not selected as middle-order batsmen, they will be added to the wicketkeeper vote.
The wicketkeepers (one to be chosen)
Mark Boucher (South Africa)
ODIs: 295; Runs: 4,686; Average: 28.57; Strike rate: 84.76
Catches: 403; Stumpings: 22
One of only three men to take more than 400 victims in his career, Boucher was an accomplished wicketkeeper first, and a batsman second. Still he lies fifth in the list of runs made by wicketkeepers, his total of 4,686 impressive because he rarely batted higher than number six. Memorably hit the winning runs in South Africa's chase of 434 to beat Australia.
MS Dhoni (India)
ODIs: 254; Runs: 8,262; Average: 52.29; Strike rate: 88.84
Catches: 229; Stumpings: 85
Delivered the World Cup that hosts India were craving in 2011, not only as captain, but with an unbeaten 91 in the final. An ice-cool temperament has left Dhoni with a habit of taking India to victory from seemingly difficult positions, while a batting average of 52.51 is more than 12 runs better than any other man to claim more than 200 wicketkeeping victims.
Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)
ODIs: 213; Runs: 6,786; Average: 35.34; Strike rate: 74.59
Catches: 141; Stumpings: 32
Undoubtedly the finest cricketer that Zimbabwe has ever produced, Flower's achievements on the field are often overshadowed by his 'death of democracy' protest at the 2003 World Cup and his time as coach of England. Only three men - Sangakkara, Gilchrist and Dhoni - have scored more runs as an ODI wicketkeeper, a feat made more remarkable as it was done in a team that often struggled.
Adam Gilchrist (Australia)
ODIs: 287; Runs: 9,619; Average: 35.89; Strike-rate: 96.94; Catches:417; Stumpings: 55
Omnipresent at the top of the Australia order during their World Cup successes of 1999, 2003 and 2007 and is the only man to have scored half-centuries in three successive finals. No batsman who has scored more than 8,000 runs as an ODI opener has a better strike-rate than Gilchrist, while his 472 wicketkeeping dismissals is bettered only by Kumar Sangakkara.
* Because Adam Gilchrist was not selected as an opening batsman, he has been added to the wicketkeeper vote.
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
ODIs: 240; Runs: 5,480; Average: 30.27; Strike rate: 91.73
Catches: 250; Stumpings: 15
A brutal striker of the ball, McCullum is one of only two wicketkeepers to score more than 4,000 ODI runs with a strike-rate above 90. One of only six men to captain, keep and open the batting in the same ODI, he has latterly relinquished the gloves in order to focus on captaincy, where he has proved to be an astute and inventive leader.
Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
ODIs: 397; Runs: 13,693; Average: 40.99; Strike rate: 78.08; Catches:378 (as keeper); Stumpings: 96.
The third-highest runscorer in ODI history, while his 113 scores of 50 or more is bettered only by Sachin Tendulkar. Seemingly improving with age, at 37, Sangakkara's 1,256 runs in 2014 were more than any other batsman in the calendar year. With 474 victims, Sangakkara is also the most successful ODI wicketkeeper of all time.
* Because Kumar Sangakkara Gilchrist was not selected as a middle-order batsman, he has been added to the wicketkeeper vote.
The all-rounders (one to be chosen)
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
ODIs: 391; Runs: 7,948; Average: 23.58; Strike rate: 116.79
Wickets: 393; Average: 33.96; Economy rate: 4.62
A savage, often reckless, hitter for whom playing himself in is an alien concept, Afridi has hit more sixes - 342 - in ODI cricket than any other player and is responsible for two of the six fastest centuries. No other current player has taken more wickets and this will be his fifth World Cup campaign. Occasionally controversial, but never dull to watch.
Sir Ian Botham (England)
ODIs: 116; Runs: 2,113; Average: 23.21; Strike rate: 79.10
Wickets: 145; Average: 28.54; Economy rate: 3.96
A figure who needs no introduction to cricket and non-cricket fans alike, England's greatest all-rounder played in three World Cups and helped them reach two finals - 13 years apart. He batted in every position in the top seven, and only four Englishmen have taken more ODI wickets, despite Botham not having played since 1992.
Imran Khan (Pakistan)
ODIs: 175; Runs: 3,709; Average: 33.41; Strike rate: 72.65
Wickets: 182; Average: 26.61; Economy rate: 3.89
A genuine world-class pace bowler and a batsmen good enough to score six Test hundreds and 19 ODI fifties, Imran was destined for legendary status long before he captained Pakistan's "cornered tigers" to a memorable World Cup triumph in 1992. A pin-up during his playing days and now a politician, there seems little he cannot do.
Kapil Dev (India)
ODIs: 225; Runs: 3,783; Average: 23.79
Wickets: 253; Average: 27.45; Economy rate: 3.71
Kapil was one of the quartet of players - along with Ian Botham, Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee - who vied for the unofficial title of world's best all-rounder in the 1980s. The finest pace bowler to come out of India, Kapil captained them to World Cup glory in 1983, a tournament in which he scored a savage 175 in a total of 266 against Zimbabwe.
Jacques Kallis (South Africa)
ODIs: 328; Runs: 11,579; Average: 44.36; Strike rate: 72.89
Wickets: 273; Average: 31.79; Economy rate: 4.84
Those who regard Kallis as a Test specialist overlook the fact he sits seventh in the all-time list of ODI run-scorers. He reached 50 in almost one in three innings, was far more than a fill-in bowler, and took 131 catches with his flypaper-like mitts. But perhaps the truest mark of his greatness is his longevity: 18 years at the top until his retirement in 2014.
Lance Klusener (South Africa)
ODIs: 171; Runs: 3,576; Average: 41.10; Strike rate: 89.91
Wickets: 192; Average: 29.95; Economy rate: 4.70
Armed with a trunk of a bat and biceps built in the army, Klusener was for a time the most feared batsman in one-day international cricket. The left-hander clubbed his way to an average of 140 in the 1999 World Cup at a strike-rate of 122 - in an era long before three-figure strike-rates become the norm - as well as taking 17 wickets with his bustling medium-pacers.
The fast bowlers (three to be chosen)
Allan Donald (South Africa)
ODIs: 164; Wickets: 272; Average: 21.78; Economy rate: 4.15
Donald's personal tragedy is that his ODI career might best be remembered for the bat-drop run-out at the end of the 1999 World Cup semi-final against Australia. However, the man nicknamed 'White Lightning' because of his ferocious pace has the best career bowling average of any bowler to take 200 ODI wickets.
Joel Garner (West Indies)
ODIs: 98; Wickets: 146; Average: 18.84; Economy rate: 3.09
The man nicknamed 'Big Bird' used all of his 6ft 8in frame to deliver the ball from a terrifying height, most devastatingly with end-of-innings yorkers that were almost impossible for batsmen to get away. Garner's average and economy are the best of any bowler to have sent down 1,000 ODI deliveries, while his 1979 5-38 remain the best figures in a World Cup final.
Brett Lee (Australia)
ODIs: 221; Wickets: 380; Average: 23.36; Economy rate: 4.76
Every inch an athlete, the sight of Lee sprinting to the crease, launching into his action and hurling the ball down at lightning pace was a terrifying sight for batsmen. The fastest man to 300 ODI wickets, some 15 matches quicker than second-placed Waqar Younis, Lee's tally of nine five-wicket hauls is bettered only by Waqar and Muttiah Muralitharan.
Dennis Lillee (Australia)
ODIs: 63; Wickets: 103; Average: 20.82; Economy rate: 3.58
Lillee began his career as a terrifying paceman but learnt to outwit batsman as injuries took their toll later on. Though he played relatively few one-day internationals, he still ended his career with the second-best average of all the bowlers to have taken more than 100 wickets.
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)
ODIs: 177; Wickets: 271; Average: 27.21; Economy rate: 5.21
The epitome of the modern death bowler, Malinga uses a unique, sling-shot action to deliver toe-crunching yorkers and countless varieties of slower ball. Malinga is the only man to take two World Cup hat-tricks and the only man to take four wickets in four balls in any international match.
Malcolm Marshall (West Indies)
ODIs: 136; Wickets: 157; Average: 26.96; Economy rate: 3.53
The most complete fast bowler of all time? Though relatively short of stature, Marshall possessed rapid pace, could swing the ball both ways, possessed a dangerous, skiddy bouncer and, later in his career, developed some canny cutters. Arrived after the two West Indies World Cup wins of the 1970s, but was part of the team that was stunned by India in the 1983 final.
Glenn McGrath (Australia)
ODIs: 250; Wickets: 381; Average: 22.02; Economy rate: 3.88
Another Australian with three World Cup winners' medals to his name, McGrath also has the most wickets (71), best average (18.19) and the best figures (7-15) at cricket's biggest show. On top of all that, McGrath's unerring accuracy left him him with the best career average of any bowler to take more than 300 ODI wickets.
Wasim Akram (Pakistan)
ODIs: 356; Wickets: 502; Average: 23.52; Economy rate: 3.89
The greatest left-arm seamer of all time? Wasim could do it all - move the ball in the air or off the pitch at extreme pace, all with the threat of a lethal bouncer and a tricky slower ball. The first man to 500 ODI wickets, and still the only pacer, Wasim was the leading wicket-taker in the 1992 World Cup, to date Pakistan's only success.
Waqar Younis (Pakistan)
ODIs: 262; Wickets: 416; Average: 23.84; Economy rate: 4.68
The godfather of reverse swing, Waqar made a career of bowling stump-seeking, toe-crushing yorkers. Third on the all-time list of ODI wicket-takers, the fastest man to 400 wickets and with more five-wicket hauls than anyone else. Waqar and new-ball partner Wasim took 918 wickets between them.
The spinners (one to be chosen)
Anil Kumble (India)
ODIs: 271; Wickets: 337; Average: 30.89; Economy rate: 4.30
Kumble spent 17 years as an integral member of the India attack, applying the brakes to the run-rate with his unfailingly accurate brand of quickish leg-breaks and top-spinners. In the 18 games he played across four World Cups, only twice did he fail to take a wicket.
Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka)
ODIs: 350; Wickets: 534; Average: 23.08; Economy rate: 3.93
The statistics alone are staggering: the all-time leading ODI wicket-taker, 10 five-wicket hauls, and 68 victims at an average of under 20 in 40 matches across five World Cups. But perhaps the greatest legacy of the man with the most flexible wrist in cricket was helping transform Sri Lanka from also-rans to one of the most feared sides in the one-day arena.
Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan)
ODIs: 169; Wickets: 288; Average: 21.78; Economy rate: 4.29
The figures make impressive reading. The second most prolific off-spinner to have played ODI cricket, Saqlain was the the quickest to reach 100, 150, 200 and 250 wickets. He took 65 wickets in 1996 and 69 the following year - tallies that have not been bettered - and his average cannot be bettered by any of the other 34 players to take 200 wickets. He is also the man credited with introducing the 'doosra' that went on to become almost a staple part of an offie's armoury.
Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)
ODIs: 286; Wickets: 290; Average: 32.30; Economy rate: 4.13
Injury has been the only threat to Vettori's presence in the New Zealand one-day side since his debut in 1997. Heading into his fourth World Cup, he continues to demonstrate the intelligence, flight and changes of pace that have seen him become - by some distance - the most successful left-arm spinner to have played limited-overs cricket.
Shane Warne (Australia)
ODIs: 194; Wickets: 293; Average: 25.73; Economy rate: 4.25
Other bowlers may have played more matches, taken more wickets and appeared in more than two World Cups, but Warne's impact on the one-day game was profound. His attacking mindset ensured spin was no longer seen as simply a means of drying up the runs, and his respective figures of 4-29 and 4-33 in the semi-final and final of Australia's triumphant 1999 World Cup are those of a man who always rose to the occasion.
No comments:
Post a Comment