Best Left-Handed XI of the currently active players in the world

When you talk about elegance in cricket, you got to talk about the left-handed batters. They used to simply caress the ball to the boundary. They looked absolutely brilliant in their follow through when they drove the ball past the cover fielder or even cut the ball through point. Likes of Clive Lloyd, Allan Border, Garry Sobers to the likes of Brian Lara, Sourav Ganguly, Sanath Jayasuriya have demolished the bowlers with their brilliant stroke-plays.

That’s batting. What about the left-handed bowlers though? Well, their ability to swing the ball both the ways have always troubled the batters around the ball. Swinging yorkers coming from their hands are one hell of a lethal weapon. Likes of Wasim Akram, Alan Davidson and Bishan Singh Bedi to the likes of Zaheer Khan, Mitchell Johnson to Daniel Vettori, the left-handed players have always had massive impacts on their sides.

How about making an ODI XI of Left-Handed players who are still playing the game and well can destroy any of the opposition. Here you go then.

David Warner (Australia)

The pocket-sized dynamo currently ranks number 5, number 1 If you talk about the left-handed players. The 31-year-old is one of the most dangerous openers in the world at the moment.

The Aussie after playing more than 100 ODI games, strikes the ball at 96.55 which makes him a lethal player at the top order. Warner made his ODI debut in 2010 against South Africa and now averages 43.43 per match after playing 106 ODIs for the Australians. He has scored 4498 runs with the help of 14 centuries and 17 half-centuries.

Shikhar Dhawan (India)

The Indian opener has played a major role in India’s dominance in the ODIs ever since his debut. Only Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have managed to score more runs than the Delhi-born flamboyant batter. He had played a massive role when Indian had won the Champions Trophy in 2013 in England. Having already opened the innings with Warner, Dhawan will be a perfect choice for the second opener.

Dhawan played his 100th ODI where he slammed a hundred, his 13th in ODIs and has 25 half-centuries to go with that. Interestingly, Dhawan has scored the same amount of runs as his opening partner in out XI Warner but has played 5 ODIs lesser than him that makes his average slightly better than Warner, i.e 45.90.

Eoin Morgan (England)

The English skipper has the ability to accelerate the innings when needed, at the same time Morgan can play the role of an anchor to guide the team. With him at number 3 comes plenty of experience on the side.

His 6120 runs in 202 ODIs suggest the same which he has scored with an average of 37.31. He has 11 ODI hundreds and 36 half-centuries to his name. His brilliant fielding can surely change the complexion of the game. Morgan though made his debut in 2006 but he played for the Irish side then.

Ben Stokes (England)

The English star has been in the news in the past few months for wrong reasons. His fist-fight with a man in a nightclub has done no good for the English all-rounder. As the court in the UK has allowed the left-hander to fly to New Zealand to join the side, how can we stay behind in getting the swashbuckling player?

The New Zealand born Stokes is a brilliant stroke-maker and on his days, he can destroy the opposition at will. Stokes made his ODI debut 7 years ago and has featured in 67 games for England. With the help of 3 centuries, Stokes has scored 1791 runs at an average of 35.82.

Quinton de Kock (South Africa)

Behind the wicket, De Kock will have the responsibility of doing the glove-work for our XI. One can argue why so low down the order but then De Kock has the ability to strike the ball hard and obviously having the experience of the opener, he can provide the stability in case of top-order collapse.

De Kock made his debut for the Protea side in 2013 and has played 90 ODIs ever since. He has 13 ODI tons to his name along with 15 half-centuries to go with it. He averages 45.41 in the ODIs where he has scored 3860 runs. His strike rate of 93.98 is very impressive. As a wicketkeeper, De Kock has pouched 116 catches while he has stumped 6 batters.

David Miller (South Africa)

He is aggressive. He can hit the ball as hard as one can imagine. After playing 105 ODIs, Miller’s batting strike rate is still above 100. After a stable top and middle order, one would need a power smasher down the order and who’s better than Miller.

Miller made his debut in 2010 and has scored 2503 runs at an average of 37.92 with the help of 4 centuries and 10 half-centuries. He can score freely and quickly in the later part of the innings and plays the role of a finisher in this XI.

Mitchell Starc (Australia)

Starc’s got pace, bounce, swing. Starc can be lethal upfront with the new ball and at the same time can swing the old ball during the mid overs. His inswinging yorker can uproot the stumps of some of the best batsman going around.

He made his debut in 2010 against India. The Aussie has 141 ODI wickets in 72 games at an impressive average of 20.95. He can smack the balls really hard If needed during the fag end of the innings in the ODIs.

Mohammed Amir (Pakistan) 

The Pakistani left-arm pacer had impressed one and all with his tremendous performance when he made his debut in 2009 at the age of 17. He got involved in the match-fixing scandal and one would’ve thought they may never see him wear the green jersey again and the 25-year-old made a brilliant return. He almost won the Asia Cup for Pakistan on return but Kohli denied the Pakistan victory.

Amir has played 40 ODIs for Pakistan till now and he has 57 scalps to his name at an average of 29. His accuracy and lethal pace are his main weapon that can rattle any batting line up.

Trent Boult (New Zealand)

The Kiwi bowler can join the above two in the pace battery department and they can eat up the whole batting line-up altogether. Trent Boult has been throwing the thunderbolts for the Kiwis ever since he made his debut in 2009. He is known for his ability to extract swing when the ball is new and is still in contention to dismiss the batsman with the old ball as well.

Ranked number 5 in the ODI bowling ranking Boult has taken 122 wickets in 66 One-Day Internationals at an average of 24.63. And guess what, this fast bowler is a brilliant fielder as well. He has grabbed some brilliant catches in the outfield.

Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

Shakib is without a doubt the best cricketer to have emerged from Bangladesh to date. The all-rounder made his debut for the Tigers back in 2006 against Zimbabwe. Since then he has made a special place for himself in the history.

At the moment Shakib is the highest ranked all-rounder in Test & ODIs. It is his ability to play those quality knocks with the bat and then chip in with wickets whenever the need be that makes him the biggest asset for Bangladesh. Having featured in 185 ODIs, he has scored 5243 runs picked 235 wickets.

Kuldeep Yadav (India)

The left-arm spinners are enjoying a brilliant run all over the cricketing globe. Kuldeep Yadav, the wrist-spinner chinaman has blown away the Protea batting through his wrong’uns and googlies. It has been hard for the opposition to read the 23-year-old’s balls.

Kuldeep made his debut only last year but has been a headache for the opposition ever since. He has 39 victims in just 20 games at an unbelievable average of 20.02 which makes him handle the spin department in the team with Shakib as a help for him if needed.