Rating 10 best ODI teams of this decade

A decade is a very long time. There are plenty of things that change through the course of ten years. The United States of America has had two different presidents. Similarly, India has witnessed a new Prime Minister who has taken charge for the second consecutive term now. And likewise, One-Day International Cricket (ODI) has undergone several touch-ups and modifications. There was a time when just one ball used to be used in an ODI inning and reverse swing prevailed. The rules for the powerplay were different and the batting team could choose when they wanted to take the third powerplay. But ten years down the line, several things have changed. The compositions of most of the teams are different now. The rules are different. Three World Cups were played in the last decade. Teams have become more competitive and ODI cricket has hardly lost its importance despite the onset of T20 cricket. Here is the rating for the top 10 ODI teams for their performance in this decade (2010-2019): 10. West Indies – 3/10 West Indies (Photo by Alex Davidson/Getty Images) The standards of West Indies cricket have dipped at an alarming rate in this decade. Most of their players have looked to focus on the shortest format of the game and thus the results in the ODI format haven’t been great. In fact, the win-loss ratio for the West Indies in worse than any other side in the top-10. Even teams like Afghanistan and Ireland have a better ratio than the Caribbean side. West Indies hardly had any phase in this decade where they performed really well. They registered some good victories at the start. With the emergence of various T20 leagues, they slowly started falling apart. When the DJ Bravo and his men pulled out of the series against India in 2014, it wasn’t great scenes. They had to rebuild from thereon but weren’t really successful with the same. In 193 matches, the West Indies managed to win only 68 games and lost 112. 9. Afghanistan – 3.5/10 Afghanistan team (Photo by Christopher Lee-IDI/IDI via Getty Images) Afghanistan is another one of those teams which has come a long way and has improved significantly in this decade. In the initial parts of this decade, they mostly played against the smaller, associate teams. Later, they bagged losses against Pakistan and Australia but impressed with a win in the Asia Cup 2014. But drawing a series against Zimbabwe in the same year, they proved a point that they are here to stay. One of the biggest moments in their cricket history came when they went to Australia to play the World Cup 2015. Although they just won one game, the performance was considered good for a team which was still trying to find its feet. Then came a few victories against the likes of Zimbabwe, Ireland, Scotland. They also won the World Cup Qualifier in 2018 under Rashid Khan. The team performed really well in Asia Cup 2018 but failed to impress in the World Cup 2019. Out of 123 games, Afghanistan managed to win 57. 8. Sri Lanka – 5.5/10 Sri Lanka. (Photo by ARIF ALI/AFP via Getty Images) Sri Lanka played more ODI games than any other team in the second decade of the 21st century. The Asian side was in brilliant form at the start of the decade. Before the World Cup 2011, they played six ODI series and won five of them. Thus, they were one of the obvious favourites to clinch the mega-title. However, they fell short marginally and lost to India in the final. After this tournament, the results have been somewhat mixed for Sri Lanka. Till the end of 2013, the side won just four series and seemed to be in a bit of trouble. However, they bounced back in 2014 by winning six out of the eight series that they played. Kumar Sangakkara was fabulous in the World Cup 2015 and helped them win four out of seven games. But the troubles began soon after with most of the senior players retiring. Several captains were changed in the last four years. Players were out of form. Many new players were tried out and not many impressed. Sri Lanka still seems to be in this transition phase and they are trying to figure out their best set of players. The side won 113 out of the 256 games that they played. 8. Pakistan – 6/10 Pakistan. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images) Pakistan has had a satisfactory decade and they performed decently well. They won 104 out of the 217 ODI games that they played while they lost 106. Like every other team, Pakistan has had to handle several retirements in these ten years and they transitioned well enough. The team was beaten in the semi-final of the World Cup 2011. But they were highly competitive in that tournament. While they didn’t start well, they won seven out of the eight series they played post the mega-event in 2011. After that one, they dominated in phases but failed to maintain consistency. Pakistan’s proudest performance came in the Champions Trophy in 2017. With a young squad, they did a fabulous job. But at this point in time, they seem to be undergoing another mini-transition with the change of captaincy. Under Babar Azam will hope to do better in the next decade. 6. Bangladesh – 6/10 Bangladesh team. (Photo Source: Twitter) In ODI cricket, Bangladesh improved a lot in this decade. They have often tried to be very competitive and have managed to stun the big teams more often than not. The team played a total of 162 games in these 10 years. While they won 70, the Tigers ended up losing 87 matches. Since 1986 till the end of 2009, Bangladesh only won 55 matches out of 211. The results in these last ten years clearly indicate how well they have improved in recent times. Bangladesh’s first victory this decade came when they clean swept New Zealand in 2010 and defeated Zimbabwe in the same year. Then, they took a while and registered another series win only towards the end of 2012. The team’s best performance came at the World Cup 2015 where they reached the quarterfinals. After this tournament, they won five series in a row. The side, however, failed to maintain this kind of consistency towards the end of this decade. They will be proud of the series victory against India in 2015. 5. New Zealand – 8/10 New Zealand. (Photo Source: Twitter) New Zealand had a few captaincy changes in this decade and possibly played some of their best cricket as well. Clearly, they had evident troubles at the start of the decade. There was a slight transition period at that point in time. But since Brendon McCullum took over, he had instilled confidence and aggressiveness into this team. He showed them that they can stun opposition by playing smart cricket. From the end of 2014, they started winning in a row. New Zealand almost made it in the World Cup 2015 but fell one step short. However, they didn’t let that defeat against Australia affect them much and continued to play good cricket. Consistency was back and the team started doing even better once Kane Williamson took over. They deserved to be the winners of the World Cup 2019 but it wasn’t their day. In 192 games in this decade, the Kiwis won 98 matches. 4. Australia – 8/10 Australia. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) The Australia domination was on once again in this decade but not as much as it was in the last decade. After maintaining an impeccable record in the World Cup for more than 12 years, they ended up losing in India in the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2011. That was the phase where they had a couple of changes in terms of the captaincy. But the aggressive style of cricket remained throughout the ten years. Two of the best phases came at the start of the decade and after the 2011 World Cup when they won four and five series in a row respectively. With new players emerging on to the scene, they focussed on the World Cup 2015 and prepared a mighty squad for the tournament. Quite expectedly, the team managed to win that at home. In the latter half of the decade, they did decently well but would be disappointed with the semi-final exit in the World Cup 2019. Steve Smith led the side before his ban and now it is Aaron Finch who is at the helm. Overall, Australia won 125 out of the 216 games that they played and lost 79. 3. South Africa – 8.5/10 South Africa (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images) South Africa has had a very eventful decade as far as ODI cricket is concerned. The Proteas might not have won any big tournaments as yet. But, they still remained to be one of the few consistent teams in this decade and has won some memorable games of cricket. South Africa lost to India at the start of the decade but won four series after that one. After the World Cup 2011 till November 2013, there have been a few mixed performances. But from December that year, they won six out of seven series. Again, there was a phase between August 2015 and February 2017 where they played some excellent cricket and won most of the games. The Proteas finished this decade on a high with some great victories. After the loss to India early in 2018, South Africa won five series in a row once again in this decade. The team finished this decade with some miserable performances in the World Cup 2019 where they won just three games. 2. England – 8.5/10 England. (Photo Source: Twitter) The decade can be divided into two halves for England as far as ODI cricket is concerned. It isn’t that they weren’t performing well with the squad they had at the start of this decade. However, that team was a little too defensive in its approach and they played the traditional style of ODI cricket rather than adapting to the modern style. While they registered some good wins till 2012, they drifted apart slowly. There wasn’t a great deal of success in the next four years and they were even beaten in the Champions Trophy 2013 final. It was only after the World Cup 2015 that England came to the conclusion that they didn’t have adequate resources. Thus, they went with a complete revamp and it is a different story after that. With all the big hitters, game changers and dynamic players coming in, the team started doing really well. It showed off when they won the 50-over World Cup for the first time ever in 2019. Starting from March 2017, the Brits only lost a couple of series. They won 123 of the 218 games that they played in this decade. England also recorded the highest ODI score ever in this decade and it was a memorable one for them. 1. India – 9/10 Indian team (Photo by Kerry Marshall/Getty Images) Team India had a fabulous decade in ODI cricket and they were one of the most consistent performers. The side bagged several memorable victories in the last ten years including the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. The ‘Men in Blue’ played non-stop cricket in this decade and played the second-most ODIs in the last ten years. The side started off under MS Dhoni and played the most part of this decade under the wicket-keeper batsman. In the last three years of the decade, it was Virat Kohli who took over. Out of the 246 matches that they played, India won 155 games and lost just 78. The W/L ratio in this decade for the side is just brilliant at 1.987. India would have been disappointed with the fact that they lost twice in the semi-final games of the World Cup 2015 and 2019. They even failed in the Champions Trophy 2017 when they faltered in the final. However, it has been an exceptional decade for them as they now set their eyes on 2023. *All stats considered till 8th December 2019.

Topics

Featured Section

Current Series

Cricket Fantasy Tips

Cricket Stats

IPL Teams

ICC Rankings

Interviews

Twitter Reactions

Cricket Appeal

Social Tracker

More Links

# Follow Us

Other Sports

Rating 10 best ODI teams of this decade

Which team according to you was the best?

5. New Zealand – 8/10

Latest Articles

PCB appoint Azhar Ali as head of youth development

WBBL 2024: Match 37, MR-W vs ST-W Match Prediction

November 22 Social Media Trends - Trending tweets, memes