Best ODI XI of the year 2020

2020 was the weirdest year of the decade. The Coronavirus pandemic compelled every nation to enforce strict lockdowns. The sports world, including cricket came to a standstill. IPL got postponed to September, while international cricket also stopped from March to June. England was the first country to host international cricket matches after the COVID-19 break. Subsequently, IPL 2020 happened in the UAE. All these matches took place behind closed doors. Australia and New Zealand invited cricket fans back to the stadiums recently. It is pertinent to note the Indian cricket team did not play a single home Test match in 2020. Speaking of ODI cricket, there was not any big ODI tournament this year. There were a few entertaining bilateral series. All teams focused to strengthen their squads ahead of the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2023. Here’s the best XI comprising the top ODI players of 2020. Best ODI XI of 2020 1. Aaron Finch – Australia Aaron Finch (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) Australian ODI skipper Aaron Finch had a memorable 2020 in the 50-over format. He began his year with an unbeaten ton against the Indian cricket team in Mumbai. Finch had an excellent partnership with David Warner in that match. The Aussies recorded a historic 10-wicket win over India. Finch continued his form to South Africa. He registered a half-century in the 3-match ODI series against the rainbow nation. Playing at the Mangaung Oval, Aaron scored 69 runs off 87 deliveries. Also, Finch recorded a match-winning fifty in the first ODI of the series against New Zealand. After the COVID-19 break, the Aussie skipper aggregated 101 runs in the 3-match series versus England. He ended the year with three consecutive 50+ scores against India. Overall, Aaron managed 673 runs in 13 innings at an average of 56.08 this year in ODI cricket. 2. Jonny Bairstow – England Jonny Bairstow. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Jonny Bairstow has cemented his place in the England cricket team as an opening batsman. Bairstow and Jason Roy have tormented the opposition bowlers in the 50-over format. The English wicket-keeper batsman played nine ODI games in 2020, where he scored 346 runs. Bairstow was the highest run-getter for the reigning world champions in ODI cricket. Jonny batted in eight ODI innings this year. He was a bit inconsistent, but he recorded one century and two fifties in ODIs. In his final ODI match of 2020, Bairstow scored 112 runs off 126 balls against Australia. The English opener also played a quickfire knock of 82 runs in the second ODI against Ireland. Overall, 2020 was a great year for Jonny Bairstow in ODIs. He maintained a strike rate of more than 100 while scoring 346 runs at an average of 43.25. 3. Virat Kohli – India (C) Virat Kohli. (Photo Source: Twitter) Even though he could not manage a century in international cricket this year, Virat Kohli still finished at the sixth position on the list of the batsmen with the most ODI runs. Kohli led the Indian cricket team in nine ODI matches. It is noteworthy that six of them came against Australia. Kohli began the year with a 14-ball 16 against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium. However, in the next two games of the series, the Indian skipper returned with scores of 78 and 89. In the three ODIs versus New Zealand, Kohli aggregated 74 runs for the team. Playing his first ODI match after over nine months, Virat scored 21 runs against Australia in Sydney. He returned to form with a classic fifty in the second one-day, and in the final ODI at the Manuka Oval, Kohli scored a match-winning 63. In 2020, Virat Kohli scored 431 runs at a strike rate of 92.29. 4. Steve Smith – Australia Steve Smith. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) Steve Smith has established himself as a match-winner in all three formats of the game. Although he did not play aggressively, Smith managed to score two quickfire tons against India in Sydney. He aggregated 105 runs off 66 balls in the first game at the SCG. In the subsequent game, Smith scored 104 runs from 64 deliveries. He absolutely owned the Indian bowlers in the ODIs at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Unfortunately, the former Australian cricket team skipper could not end the year with a century as he scored only 7 runs in the third ODI against India. Speaking of his performance in the preceding ODIs, Smith had scores of 98 and 132 in the two ODI innings against India in Rajkot and Bengaluru. He also scored a fifty versus South Africa at Boland Park. Smith ended the year as the second highest run-scorer, with 568 runs in nine ODI innings. 5. KL Rahul – India (WK) KL Rahul. (Photo Source: Twitter) Not many fans would have predicted KL Rahul to settle at the number five position in the Indian batting lineup. However, Rahul received an opportunity to become the team’s wicket-keeper after Rishabh Pant’s concussion in the home ODI series against Australia. Rahul grabbed the opportunity by both hands. The right-handed batsman was the star performer for the Indian cricket team in the away series versus New Zealand. Although India could not win a single game in that 3-match series, Rahul cemented his spot in the team. He carried forward that form to IPL 2020, winning the Orange Cap. In India’s second ODI game after the COVID-19 break, Rahul impressed the fans with a 66-ball 76 against Australia. He ended the year with 443 runs in nine innings. Besides, Rahul also managed to become the highest run-scorer for the Indian ODI team in 2020. 6. Hardik Pandya – India Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: Twitter) Hardik Pandya did not play a single ODI match for the Indian cricket team in the first ten months of 2020. He received an opportunity to play in the series against Australia. And, Hardik proved why he is one of the best players in the world right now with his marvelous performances. Unfortunately, because of his back injury, Pandya could not bowl enough in the ODI series. Still, when his team required his services, Hardik bowled a fine spell. Talking about his performance with the bat, Pandya scored 210 runs in just three ODI matches of 2020. He was the best batsman for India in the series against Australia Down Under. Pandya recorded his best score in ODI cricket this year versus the Aussies in Canberra. He had a fantastic partnership of 150 runs with Ravindra Jadeja for the sixth wicket at the Manuka Oval. 7. Glenn Maxwell – Australia Glenn Maxwell. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell wowed the cricket fans across the world with his fireworks on the pitch. Maxwell blew away the opposition bowling lineups with his risky playing style in ODI cricket. The Aussie player aggregated 353 runs in just six ODI innings this year. Maxwell proved himself as one of the best finishers in ODI cricket at the moment. He had a magnificent strike rate of 145.26 in the 50-overs format. On top of that, he played a very mature innings against the England cricket team in the final ODI of the series at Old Trafford. Glenn had a match-winning partnership with Alex Carey that helped Australia chase down a score of 305 runs despite being 73/5. He followed that up with a 19-ball 45 in the first ODI against Australia. Maxwell ended 2020 with back-to-back half-centuries versus the Men in Blue. 8. Jofra Archer – England Jofra Archer (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) English all-rounder Jofra Archer got to play only three ODI matches in 2020. The Barbadian fast bowler played in the ODI series between England and Australia at Old Trafford. He had a fantastic showing in the first two matches of the series as he scalped three wickets each. In the first match, Archer dismissed the trio of David Warner, Pat Cummins, and Glenn Maxwell. In the next match, he continued in the same vein to remove Australia’s opener David Warner and all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Mitchell Marsh. Archer ended the series with a wicket of Alex Carey in the final game. The highlight of his 2020 statistics in ODI was his bowling average of 21.57. Another interesting stat is that Archer bowled two maiden overs in the three ODIs. It will be interesting to see if the English player could continue his top form in the upcoming ODI series against the Indian cricket team. 9. Josh Hazlewood – Australia Josh Hazlewood. (Photo Source: Twitter) Josh Hazlewood enjoyed himself in the middle while playing ODI cricket this year. The bio-bubble seemed to have zero impact on Josh’s performances as he ended the year with 16 ODI wickets in 10 matches. Hazlewood’s economy rate of 5 shows how much the batsmen would have struggled against him. Generally, Josh bowls in the powerplay and the slog overs. These two phases are the most difficult ones in ODI cricket. Still, Hazlewood returned with 16 wickets and eight maiden overs in ten ODIs. His best performance came in the first ODI against England, where he had figures of 3/26. Hazlewood dismissed Joe Root, Jason Roy, and Moeen Ali in that contest. In the subsequent series versus the Indian cricket team, Josh picked up Virat Kohli’s wicket in all three matches. These achievements highlight why Hazlewood earned a spot in this XI. 10. Alzarri Joseph – West Indies Alzarri Joseph. (Photo by ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images) West Indies’ rising star Alzarri Joseph was the second-most successful bowler in ODI cricket this year. He stood at number one on the list of the fast bowlers with the most wickets in ODI cricket in 2020. Joseph played only six ODI matches in 2020, returning with 18 wickets at an economy rate of 4.41. While one can say that Joseph achieved this feat against lower-ranked teams like Ireland and Sri Lanka, one should not rule out the fact that the Irish team has a victory over England in ODIs this year. Also, Sri Lanka was playing the series against West Indies at home. Joseph took a three-wicket haul in each of the three ODIs against Sri Lanka. Besides, he even took back-to-back four-wicket hauls in the first two ODIs versus Ireland. Joseph was brilliant with the white ball this year. His bowling average of 14.72 was one of the best in ODIs. The right-arm quick will aim to continue scalping wickets for the West Indies ODI team in 2021. 11. Adam Zampa – Australia Adam Zampa. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Adam Zampa was the only player to take 20+ wickets in ODI matches in 2020. The right-arm leg-spinner played 13 ODI matches for Australia, where he took 27 wickets at a strike rate of 28.4. Zampa had a brilliant economy rate of 5, while his bowling average was 23.74. The fact that Zampa did not pick up a single five-wicket haul in 2020 shows his lack of consistency in terms of taking wickets in ODIs. Adam played a match-winning role for his team in the recently-played series against India. He took the wickets of Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya in the first ODI. In the preceding ODI series against the world champions England, Adam took ten wickets in just three matches. He also had a three-wicket haul in the second ODI of the away series against India. Thus, Zampa earned the tag for the best ODI bowler in the world in 2020.

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Best ODI XI of the year 2020

Speaking of ODI cricket, there was not any big ODI tournament in 2020.

6. Hardik Pandya – India

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