ODI All-rounders XI of the 21st century
One-day cricket has evolved over the years and played a lot different than it was 20 years ago. 21st century ODI cricket has become more intense, more entertaining, and produces a lot of runs. Also, rules have been changed to make it more exciting.
Quality all-rounders are a rare commodity in international cricket and can win games with both the bat and ball. Players like Kapil Dev, Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, and Keith Miller are some of the greatest all-rounders of the 20th century.
Here in this fantasy XI, we have selected the best all-rounders who played the game during the 21st century. Though statistics remains the primary factor behind their selection, other elements such as trophies, ability to influence the game with both the bat and ball, success in most playing conditions, and many more are considered for this Dream XI of all-rounders.
#1 Sanath Jayasuriya
The Sri Lankan legend revolutionized one-day international cricket with his explosive batting during the 1996 World Cup. He was the star of the show for Sri Lanka in the tournament and led them to their first ever World Cup win. He demolished some of the best bowlers in the world and stunned everyone with his blistering strokes.
A left-arm spinner in the early parts of his career, Jayasuriya transformed into one of the most feared opening batsmen of all-time in ODI cricket. He featured in 445 ODIs and scored 12430 runs, which included 28 hundreds. He also picked up 323 wickets in his ODI career.
#2 Shane Watson
Shane Watson has been one of Australia’s finest all-rounders in ODI and T20 cricket. The 37-year-old all-rounder from Queensland played 190 One Day Internationals for Australia in his career which spanned 14 years.
Watson scored 5757 runs and picked up 168 wickets. With a batting and bowling average of 40.54 and 31.79 respectively, Watson won many games for Australia both with the bat and ball. Watson retired from international cricket in 2016.