Best ODI XI of the year 2019

2019 has been a witness to some riveting action on the field, irrespective of the format. In ODI cricket, the World Cup took centrestage in England and Wales. Albeit the tournament came to an end in a controversial scenario owing to the boundary-count rule, there’s wasn’t any dearth of excitement. As many as 150 matches in the one-day format took place at the highest level in 2019. Throughout the year, a number of records were created, some of which came in the World Cup itself. The proceedings kept one and all at the edge of the seats. On mostly batting-friendly strips, runs flowed at the rate of knots. But it didn’t stop the bowlers from coming out firing on all cylinders and deliver with all their might. All in all, there were some jaw-dropping individual performances. In the article, let’s take a look at the best ODI XI of 2019:- Rohit Sharma Rohit Sharma. (Photo Source: Twitter) Rohit Sharma’s limited-overs career turned around ever since he started opening the batting for India in the 2013 Champions Trophy. He hasn’t looked back and has only grown in stature. In 2019, he turned out to be the leading run-scorer, having stockpiled 1,490 runs in 28 matches at an average of 57.30. A chunk of the runs came in the World Cup where he was a headache for the opposition. Rohit was the highest run-getter in the tournament, scoring 648 runs at an average of 81. In the mega event, Rohit scored five centuries, the most by any batter in a single World Cup edition. Even in the recent ODI series against the West Indies, Rohit notched 258 runs with a knock of 159 in Vizag. In ODIs this year, the 32-year-old ended with seven centuries, the highest by any batsman. Shai Hope (wk) Shai Hope. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) Shai Hope is a kind of batsman, who has all the gears in his repertoire, a reason behind his average of 52.75 in ODIs. This year has been a fruitful one for the Barbados-born as he was arguably the West Indies’ standout batsman with 1,345 runs at an average of 61.13. In a Caribbean batting of power-hitters, Hope brings in calmness and has played the sheet anchor’s role to good effect. Hope didn’t have the greatest of outings in the World Cup by his standards. The 26-year-old scored 274 runs at 34.25 with three half-centuries. Barring the event in England and Wales, Hope didn’t flatter to deceive. His highest ODI score of 170 came back in May this year versus Ireland in Dublin. Hope ended the year, scoring 222 runs in three matches against India with a century in Chennai. Babar Azam Babar Azam. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images) Babar Azam started his career in 2015 with loads of promise and he has well and truly been able to translate the potential into something substantial. In 2019, he was Pakistan’s most prolific run-scorer, having racked up 1.092 runs in 20 matches at an incredible average of 60.66 with three tons and six fifties. At the age of 25, he is already a stalwart in the middle-order of his national team. Pakistan had a torrid time in ODIs this year, and there have been times when Babar had to wage lone battles. Even in the World Cup in challenging conditions, the Lahore-born scored 474 runs in eight matches at an average of 67.71. He also got a century against New Zealand in a run-chase. Babar is an indispensable member of the Pakistan lineup that has chinks in their armour in all the departments. Virat Kohli Virat Kohli. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Virat Kohli scored 443 runs in the World Cup with five fifties. The fact that he couldn’t convert any of his half-centuries came a surprise to many. But parking aside his journey in the tournament, the Delhi-born had more than a decent run. In 17 matches, Kohli turned up with five centuries with a top score of 123 against Australia in Ranchi. In 2019, Virat scored 1,377 runs at an average of 59.86. Kohli played with a strike-rate of 96.36, showing his fluency during his knocks. In the ODI series in December versus the West Indies, Virat started with scores of 4 and 0 before making a comeback with a match-winning 85 at the Barabati Stadium. Had the 31-year-old not succumbed to the rare single-digit scores, the 31-year-old could well have ended the year as the leading run-scorer, surpassing Rohit. Shakib Al Hasan Shakib Al Hasan. (Photo by Gareth Copley-ICC/ICC via Getty Images) Shakib Al Hasan didn’t quite have a happy ending to 2019 after being handed a ban by the International Cricket Council (ICC). However, as far as action on the field is concerned, he had an incredible time. In 11 matches, Shakib scored 746 runs at an average of 93.25 with two centuries and seven fifties. Eight of those games came in the World Cup where the Jessore-born racked 606 runs. His average of 86.57 was the highest in the tournament. Shakib also finished with 11 wickets with a five-wicket haul versus Afghanistan in Southampton. His highest score of 124* came against the West Indies when Bangladesh were chasing a colossal 322 at the County Ground in Taunton. Even as the rest of the Tigers’ lineup showed inconsistency, the veteran put his hands up most times. Eoin Morgan (C) Eoin Morgan. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images) If a leader had to be picked for 2019, there weren’t many, who could match Eoin Morgan. The Middlesex batsman guided England to their maiden World Cup, beating New Zealand in the final at the Lord’s. The southpaw led the Three Lions in 21 matches and led them to victory in 14 of them, losing only five with a couple of games against the West Indies and Pakistan producing no results. The success has also rubbed off positively on his batting as he averaged 52.73, scoring 791 runs with a couple of tons in 2019. One of the centuries came in the World Cup where he scored 148 versus the Afghans at the Old Trafford in Manchester. In the tournament, Morgan racked up 371 runs in 11 matches at an average of 41.22. The 33-year-old has undoubtedly been an inspiration for the Brits. Ben Stokes Ben Stokes of England. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images) Ben Stokes has come leaps and bounds after the jolt of the Bristol bar incident a couple of years ago. The Christchurch-born averages 40.63 in 95 ODIs, but that increases to 59.91 in 2019, showing how much, he has groomed himself. In 2019, the left-handed batsman ended with 719 runs with seven fifties to show for his efforts. Most crucially, he has shown a great temperament to deliver in crisis. In the World Cup, Stokes had four scores in the 80s along with a 79 against India in Birmingham. At times, he didn’t have much support from the other end. In the final, his unbeaten 84* took the game into the Super Over after England found themselves in trouble. In the tournament, he averaged 66.42, the highest among the Brits’ batters. With the ball, Stokes picked up 12 wickets in 2019. Pat Cummins Pat Cummins. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Pat Cummins has put forth some sterling shows for Australia in 2019, especially in Tests and ODIs. In the 50-overs format, he was the Aussies most successful bowler, having picked 31 wickets in 16 matches with a bowling average of 21.61. Most importantly, he gave away runs at an economy of 4.73, which are more than impressive numbers, keeping in mind the batting friendly pitches in 2019. He started the year, getting 14 wickets in the five-match ODI series in India. Then in the World Cup, he picked up 14 wickets in 10 matches, going wicketless in only a couple of games. Cummins’ best figures of 5/70 came against India in Mohali. The 26-year-old is currently the highest-ranked Aussie in ICC’s rankings for ODI bowlers. The Sydney-born fast bowler is placed fifth with 693 points. Trent Boult Trent Boult of New Zealand. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images) Trent Boult was another of those bowlers in 2019, who picked up wickets at a brisk rate and didn’t concede many runs either. The New Zealand fast bowler ended the year with 38 wickets from 20 matches at an economy of 4.70, the best among the top 15 wicket-takers. On the back of the stupendous spells of bowling, the left-armer is currently ranked second in ICC’s list of ODI bowlers with 740 points. In the 2019 World Cup, the 30-year-old picked up 17 wickets, including a hat-trick against Australia at the renowned Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. He was the Black Caps’ standout bowler in the tournament. His best bowling figures of 5/21 this year came versus India at the Seddon Park in Hamilton. In the list of highest wicket-takers in 2019, Boult finished second after Mohammed Shami. Mohammed Shami Mohammed Shami. (Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images) Mohammad Shami’s endeavour in ODIs got a massive kick as he ended 2019 as the top wicket-taker. The Indian fast bowler churned out 42 wickets in 21 matches at an economy of 5.36. In the 2019 World Cup, Shami picked up 14 wickets in a mere four matches after coming into the eleven as Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s replacement. He also got a hat-trick against Afghanistan in Southampton. The hat-trick came at a stage when the Afghans had the chance of running away with the game with the experienced Mohammad Nabi in the middle. At times, the Bengal speedster has leaked runs, but his wicket-taking ability, both with the old and new ball has worked wonders for Team India. Of late, the 29-year-old played the ODI series against the West Indies, picking up five wickets from three games. Yuzvendra Chahal India’s Yuzvendra Chahal. (Photo credit should read MARTY MELVILLE/AFP/Getty Images) Yuzvendra Chahal can effectively be deemed as the most effective spinner of 2019. Though Kuldeep Yadav picked 32 wickets, it was Chahal, who made impacts frequent enough with an average and strike-rate of 28.10 and 29.3 respectively. On the contrary, Kuldeep had an average and strike-rate of 34.68 and 39 respectively, much lower than Chahal’s figures. Meanwhile, Chahal ended 2019, getting 29 wickets in 16 games. It’s also pertinent to note that Chahal was the leading wicket-taker among the spinners in the 2019 World Cup. In eight matches, the Haryana tweaker racked up 12 wickets with a four-wicket haul versus South Africa at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. Though Kuldeep got a hat-trick earlier in December, Chahal was the more consistent among the two premier wrist-spinners in the country.

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