3 Indian cricketers with over 5,000 runs and 100 wickets in ODIs
India have never been blessed with absolutely world-class all-rounders since the great Kapil Dev retired from the sport. Over the course of the past 3 decades, we have seen players like Ravi Shastri, Irfan Pathan, and Ravichandran Ashwin perform decently, if not exceptionally.
Of late, all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya have seemed to establish their places in the Indian playing XI across formats, owing to their dynamism with the bat and unique skill-set with the ball. However, they are all recent answers to a question that has plagued the Men in Blue for years.
In all the years that India have been active in the ODI format, only three players have scored over 5,000 runs and taken 100 or more wickets in the 50-over format. Unsurprisingly, all three of these cricketers were primarily known for their batting.
In this article, we take a look at the 3 Indian cricketers who hold this unique distinction.
#3 Yuvraj Singh
Former Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh is one of the three Indian players to have achieved this feat. With 8,701 runs in 304 ODIs at an average of 36.55 and strike rate of 87.67, the southpaw is undoubtedly one of the country's greatest No. 4 batsmen.
Yuvraj was also a handy left-arm spinner, and picked up 111 wickets in ODIs at an economy rate of 5.1. His best run with the ball in hand came in India's victorious 2011 World Cup campaign, where he was the fourth-highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps to his name. In the process, he also became the first player to score a 50 and claim a 5-for in a World Cup game.
Since he lost his place in the Indian team, Virat Kohli's team have been unable to replace the dynamic batsman at the No. 4 slot. Yuvraj's useful bowling has also been missed, with the lack of a capable 6th bowler evident in many games.