Best All-time ODI XI with one cricketer from each country

In the long history of cricket, many players came, played for their country and bid adieu to the international arena. Meanwhile, there were many players, who ended up being the legends of the gentlemen’s game like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Sunil Gavaskar and many others. The list of legendary players is quite long and preparing an all-time XI favourite is one of the most difficult tasks.

It is well known that cricket is divided into three formats– Tests, ODIs and T20Is. And, every format has its own importance. Moreover, it is not specific that the player who played brilliantly in red-ball cricket will be successful in white-ball cricket.

So, we took an ardent task of preparing an ODI XI with one cricketer from each country. And, fans will be surprised with the names of the players in the squad.

Here’s an All-time ODI XI with one cricketer from each country:

1. Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar, the former Indian batsman name doesn’t need any introduction. His batting stats are enough to speak about his contribution to cricket. He is nicknamed as God of Cricket by the fans and how we can ignore him while picking out ODI XI.

India produced several legendary batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and others. Now, Virat Kohli, the current Indian skipper is making his name as one of the finest batsmen in the history of international cricket.

It can be said that Kohli is walking on the footsteps of Tendulkar. But, he still needs to achieve a lot in order to surpass his former teammate. Sachin played against some of the finest bowling attacks during his playing days like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Imran Khan, Shane Warne and others.

However, he still ended up scoring more than 18 thousand ODI runs with the help of 49 tons and 96 half-centuries. Hence, he is the one we have picked as the all-time best from India’s cricketing history.

2. Brendon McCullum

Brendon McCullum, the former explosive batsman from New Zealand was no less than a nightmare for any bowler across the globe. He always liked to take the charge against the opponents bowling unit from the word go. The 38-year-old became the first skipper who led BlackCaps to the final of World Cup back in 2015. However, he ended up losing in the mega-event against Australia.

He played a vital role in many crucial wins for Kiwis in ODIs. The former opener holds several accolades next to his name like a fastest half-century off 18 balls in 2015 against England which is yet to be broken. He also has the highest strike rate in the list of players played at least 100 ODIs for New Zealand.

Moreover, McCullum is still rated as one of the best fielders in the history of international cricket. He bid adieu to international cricket back in 2015 with 6083 runs mentioned next to his name in the 50-overs format.

3. Ricky Ponting (C)

Ricky Ponting, the former Aussie skipper was the biggest competitor of Sachin Tendulkar in international cricket. He led Australia to back to back triumph in World Cups back in 2003 and 2007. The 45-year-old was known for his trademark pull stroke as he had mastered the art of playing that specific shot.

He is the all-time leading run-scorer with the most number of tons and half-centuries in ODIs for Australia. Moreover, Ponting is one of the four batsmen alongside Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Sachin Tendulkar to score more than 13,000 ODI runs.

The former World Cup-winner was no less than a Picasso of batting, who defined it in his own style and he ended up being one of the legendary batsmen in the history of international cricket. Hence, we have picked Ricky Ponting as the only Aussie player in this elite All-Time XI.

4. Brian Lara

Brian Lara, the West Indian batsman is reckoned as one of the finest batsmen in the history of international cricket. It is well known that the West Indies produced some all-time cricketing greats and Lara was one of them.

The left-hander played for his national side from 1990 to 2007 against some lethal bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Brett Lee, Shane Bond, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Lara still managed to score more than 10,000 ODI runs which is itself a big achievement.

The former left-handed was no less than a wizard, who used to wave his willow like a magic wand against the bowlers. He used to be the biggest obstacle between the opponent and their victory in the match. Brian Lara is known as the “Prince of Trinidad”, who ruled for more than a decade in ODI cricket on the back of his fascinating batting.

5. Kumar Sangakkara (wk)

Kumar Sangakkara a silent killer on the field. His instinctive batting used to leave a great impact on the opposition bowling line-up. The 42-year-old was the backbone of Sri Lanka’s batting unit, who used to score bucketloads of runs on the back of his classical batting. Also, he was a brilliant wicketkeeper, who ended up taking 402 catches and dismissing 99 players with his lightening speed keeping skills.

He had long-range of strokes in his dictionary of batting like pull, cut, straight drive, cover drive. Every batsman usually has a weakness in their batting but he had none. His hunger to score bucketloads of runs in order to help his side in winning the match made him a different league batsman.

In the international career spanned around 15 years, Sangakkara made several records in the 50-over format that stands till date like all-time leading run-scorer in ODIs for Sri Lanka and second in international cricket after Sachin Tendulkar with 14,234 runs in his 380 ODI appearances.

6. Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis, the former seaming all-rounder from South Africa ended as one of the finest player produced by his country. He was equally dangerous in bowling and batting for the opponents, who gave a new meaning to the definition of an all-rounder in cricket. The former player was known for scoring tons and fifties in ODIs like it was a cakewalk for him, He ended up scoring 11, 579 runs with the help 17 tons and 86 half-centuries.

Coming onto his bowling, he had the ability to swing the ball in both the directions from the same action that used to make him unpredictable. This is the reason that he ended up taking more wickets than some of the established bowlers in the history of Cricket South Africa.

Kallis always worked as a catalyst for Proteas with the bat and ball, who single-handedly won many crucial games for his country. The 44-year-old scored more than 11 thousand runs with 273 ODI wickets that makes him a perfect from South Africa.

7. Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan, the spin all-rounder from Bangladesh is still playing in international cricket. But currently, he is handed with a two-year ban by ICC after he was found guilty for breaking code of conduct. However, keeping this controversy aside, he is a genuine all-rounder, who is known for his submissive batting skills and brilliant spin bowling.

In the 2019 World Cup, he once against showed why he is given the stature as one of the finest all-rounders. He became the first player in the history of the mega-event to score more than 600 runs and pick 10-plus wickets in a single edition.

Moreover, he holds the record for being the quickest to score 6000 runs and grab 250 wickets in ODIs. These stats make him enough credible to represent his country in this list.

8. Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram, also known as ‘Sultan of Swing’, was one of the lethal fast-bowlers from the ’90s. The legendary batsman like Sir Vivian Richards, Sachin Tendulkar and others used to find difficulty playing their strokes against him.

He used to bowl at a speed off and around 145 km/hr, Moreover, his ability to swing at such a pace made him unpredictable at that time. Akram was known as one of the pioneers of reverse-swing bowling, who became the first-ever fast-bowler to take in 500 wickets in ODIs.

Also, he holds the record for taking most wickets in the World Cup for Pakistan with 55 wickets. Akram was an efficient batsman in the lower-order. Akram played some crucial innings for his country that helped him registering some crucial victories.

9. James Anderson

James Anderson, the right-handed veteran bowler from England is the leading wicket-taker for his country in ODIs with 237 wickets in his 170 appearances. He is primarily a swing bowler, who still at the age of 37 can make opponent batsmen dance on his tune.

The 37-year-old has all sought of deliveries in his pouch that any bowlers need to become a world-class bowler. Anderson is quite able to take the ball away from the right-handed batsman and bring the ball inside for the left-handed batter at a pace off and around 140 km/hr that makes him quite unpredictable. Moreover, his slingy action helps him in getting more bounce from the wicket.

10. Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan from Afghanistan is the youngest player in this list of ODI XI. He is an exceptional leg-spinner, who at the age of 21-year-old, has established his name as one of the finest and dangerous leg-spinner in modern-day cricket.

Rashid’s ability to use his variation and special deliveries against the batsmen is spot on. Earlier, it looked like the batsmen will find a solution to play strokes against the leg-spinner but that has not been the case so far.

Even the finest batsmen like Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson also fear to take the charge against Rashid in the matches. There is no doubt over the fact that he is one of the legend in the making in international cricket going into the future. So far he has grabbed 133 wickets in his 71 ODI appearances for his country.

11. Heath Streak

Heath Streak, the former pacer used to bowl with high discipline. He retired from international cricket as one of the greatest bowlers ever produced by Zimbabwe in its history. The 46-year-old could have done better for his country but his fall out with his cricket board shortened his career.

He was majorly known for bowling outswingers that used to pave difficulties for the batsmen. At that time, he was rated as the best bowler in the team.

Streak is one of the four bowlers, who took more than 100 wickets in the 50-over format in international cricket for Zimbabwe. Overall, he took 239 ODI wickets in his 189 appearances.