The most underrated XI of all time in cricket

8. Chris Woakes

Among all those stars in the English side capable of winning matches single-handedly in white-ball cricket, Chris Woakes doesn’t precisely get the credit he deserves. The 30-year-old from Birmingham has become one of the finest bowlers around the world in the last four years and despite all the performances, he still remains underrated. In 98 ODI matches, Chris Woakes has picked up 142 wickets at an average just above 30.

In the test format, he’s accounted for 72 scalps in 27 matches as his best figures in a match reads 11 wickets for just 102 runs. He is a capable batsman lower down the order. With more than 1000 runs with four centuries and a century to his name in the longest format, his capabilities with the bat in hand often don’t get the credit it deserves.

In one of the recent victorious World Cup campaign, England had even promoted him up the order to number 3 when neither the target nor the opponent bowling attack was intimidating. England had ticked all their boxes perfectly for the 15-man squad and even if their top order failed, they have enough depth to help the side get to a decent total 9 times out of 10.

With Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali hammering away all the limelight, Chris Woakes is perhaps their most underrated all-rounder.