Tom Moody picks his greatest Test, ODI and T20 all-rounders

Tom Moody, the former Australian cricketer, named South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and West Indies’ Gary Sobers as the two greatest all-rounders in Test cricket. Moody said that it would be hard to zero in on the best between the two. The veteran said that Kallis was an “unbelievable package” courtesy his ability to bat, bowl and field with equal efficiency.

As his third pick, Moody zeroed in on Pakistan’s Imran Khan, the 1992 World Cup-winning captain. Moody, who was a member of the 1999 World Cup-winning Aussie squad, was amazed by Khan’s potential to generate serious pace and also churn out high averages, batting lower down the order. Khan retired after leading Pakistan to the world title.

Played against Imran Khan towards the end of his career: Tom Moody

Moody, who played eight Tests and 76 ODIs, put forth his opinions during the Pitch Side Podcast. “I find it very hard to go past Imran Khan. What he did was quite phenomenal. I played against him towards the end of his career. I remember speaking to people that played him in the early and middle parts of his career and they said he was genuinely quick.

To have that and the ability to bat at five, six and seven in ODIs and Test cricket and have an average in the ’30s is great,” Moody was quoted as saying.

In the list of greatest all-rounders in the T20 format, Moody went for Andre Russell, Shane Watson and Shahid Afridi. Calling Afridi a match-winner, he said that the former shouldn’t be judged by his current performances.

“I am going Russell, Watson and Afridi in that order. Afridi over the last 12 or 14 years as an all-rounder has been nothing short of brilliant. He was a match-winner with both bat and ball and he has done it consistently.

“We have to remember the Afridi of the past, not the Afridi today when he was in his sweet spot, which was for a long period when he was playing the highest quality cricket of his career,” Moody added.

Moreover, Moody was of the opinion that Watson wasn’t rated highly and said he had an enormous impact during his times. He also included Watson in the list of greatest ODI all-rounders along with Kallis and Lance Klusener.