Under-rated ODI XI of the decade

It is the end of a decade and everybody seems to be making their best XIs of the decade in different formats. There is often limelight on big stars and they are given credit big time as well. However, there are cricketers who haven’t hogged much of the limelight and yet, have been consistent.

These are the cricketers who’ve not been talked about much and usually fly under the radar. Thus, with everyone making a best XI, here we take a look at an underrated ODI XI for the 2010s-decade. These are players who have been excellent and have been key to their side’s performance but don’t (or haven’t) got their due as much as they should have.

Here’s Under-rated ODI XI of the decade:

Quinton de Kock (wk)

Quinton de Kock made his ODI debut in January 2013 but it wasn’t until the India series in December that year that he shot into the limelight. The left-handed opener smashed three tons in a row to announce himself in international cricket. He hasn’t looked back since.

The South African wicket-keeper batsman has been a consistent run-getter for his side. He is a bank at the top of the order and has been one of the best wicket-keeper batsmen of this decade in ODI cricket. In fact, de Kock has the third-most runs for a wicket-keeper batsman in the 2010s decade. He has amassed 4904 runs at an average of 45.40 and a strike-rate of 95.37.

Moreover, the southpaw has registered 14 ODI hundreds in this decade which is the second-most for any wicket-keeper bat after Kumar Sangakkara’s 15.  However, de Kock often doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Not only with the bat, but de Kock is also fabulous behind the stumps as well. He flies around and takes acrobatic catches and effects quick stumpings.