Harsha Bhogle, the renowned cricket journalist and commentator, shared his ODI team of the decade from the players, who have performed exceptionally from the year 2011 to 2020. Harsha Bhogle made his picks while speaking on Cricbuzz.
Rohit Sharma and David Warner were his preferred openers. Both the batsmen have been outstanding in the last decade. Rohit Sharma, in particular, notched as many as three double centuries with a top score of 264 against Sri Lanka in ODIs which none of the other cricketers could achieve so far. He also got five tons in the 2019 World Cup.
Harsha Bhogle Picks Virat Kohli And AB De Villiers In Middle Order And Ben Stokes And Shakib Al Hasan As All Rounders
In the middle-order, Harsha Bhogle went for Indian skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. Virat Kohli has been a run-machine and he has tasted success equally in all three formats of the game averaging above 50 in each format. AB De Villiers, on the other hand, retired back in 2018, yet experts reckon that Mr 360 has enough potential to make an international comeback and weave his magic back at the highest level by scoring runs all along the ground.
Virat Kohli has an average of 59.31 in ODIs and is second in leading average charts after Ryan Ten Doeschate of the Netherlands who averaged 67 from 2006 to 2011 playing 33 matches. Babar Azam trails Virat Kohli averaging 55.93 in 77 matches. No Pakistan batsman features in ICC and Harsha Bhogle’s XI. Australian Michael Bevan and South African AB De Villiers trail Virat Kohli and Babar Azam in leading average charts.
As his genuine all-rounders, Harsha Bhogle zeroed in on Ben Stokes and Shakib Al Hasan. Ben Stokes was a vital member in England’s 2019 World Cup-winning squad and was rewarded as Man of Match for his unbeaten 84 in the thrilling final against New Zealand which saw both match and Super Over to end in a tie.
Shakib Al Hasan has arguably been Bangladesh’s greatest cricketer in the last two decades. Shakib Al Hasan tried whole-heartedly in the 2019 World Cup where he became the first cricketer to score 600 runs and take 10 wickets in a single World Cup, but couldn’t take his team to the semi-finals. He was given a one year ban for breaching ICC’s Anti Corruption Code in 2019 but he returned recently.
Harsha Bhogle Picks MS Dhoni As Wicket-keeper, Rashid Khan As Spinner And Mitchell Starc, Lasith Malinga And Trent Boult As Pacers
As the wicketkeeper, it didn’t spring a surprise that Harsha Bhogle picked wicket-keeper MS Dhoni, who retired from international cricket back in August 2020. In this decade, MS Dhoni helped India win the 2011 World Cup after a hiatus of 28 years and the 2013 Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni has led in most international matches as captain (332) from 2007 to 2018.
As his fast-bowling trio, Harsha Bhogle went for New Zealand’s Trent Boult, Sri Lanka’s Lasith Malinga and Australia’s Mitchell Starc. As the sole specialist spinner, he picked Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who has been a revelation at a young age and has been a standout performer for underdogs Afghanistan.
Lasith Malinga has 338 wickets, Mitchell Starc has 184 wickets while Trent Boult has 164 wickets in ODIs.
The only change from ICC’s ODI Team of the decade is spinner Rashid Khan‘s inclusion in Harsha Bhogle’s XI instead of South African Imran Tahir in the ICC’s ODI Team of the decade.
Here’s the ODI XI –
Rohit Sharma, David Warner, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni, Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Mitchell Starc, Lasith Malinga, Trent Boult