As part of Wisden’s Decade in Review, Adam Collins, Dan Norcross and Phil Walker joined Yas Rana to pick out a Wisden’s ODI team of the decade.
They ended up with a stellar line-up of proven internationals, but naturally, a few from the younger batch missed out. But they could well make the XI in the next decade.
Wisden’s decade in review series is brought to you in association with Perry, designers of distinctive club blazers made in Yorkshire since 1946. Vote in the decade in review readers’ survey.
The full Wisden Cricket Weekly Podcast Decade in Review Special below (you can also listen to the episode on the Podcast App and Spotify):
Here they are:
Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy
Roy: 84 ODIs, 3381 runs, average 42.79, HS: 180 (since 2010)
Bairstow: 74 ODIs, 2861 runs, average 47.68, HS: 141* (since 2010)
Yas Rana: If you’re thinking about this team as 1-7, we’re going to have a very good 3-7. Roy and Bairstow stand out because their strike-rates are higher than everyone else’s, and by every measure possible, the Bairstow-Roy partnership is the best ever.
Dan Norcross: I think if you did a podcast in five years’ time for who are the best ODI batsmen between 2015 and 2025, you’d pick them. But you said it’s got to be the whole decade.
Babar Azam
Phil Walker: Babar is my one allowance for a shortened career. He’s the fastest ever to 3,000 runs. He carries that batting line-up, but it’s also that you want layers of style in this team. I want to watch Babar and [Rohit] Sharma alongside one another. They are the batsmen of my dreams from this era.
74 ODIs, 3359 runs, average 54.17, HS: 125*
[caption id=”attachment_111518″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
Babar Azam was Pakistan’s leading run-getter at the 2019 World Cup[/caption]
Mustafizur Rahman
56 ODIs, 107 wickets, average 22.97, BBI: 6-43
YR: Another name I’d like to throw into the mix is The Fizz. No one really bowls like him with his vast array of cutters and the way he burst onto the scene was sensational.
DN: I’m a big fan of The Fizz, but give it five years and him, Bumrah, Bairstow, Roy, they’re all in.
Jasprit Bumrah
58 ODIs, 103 wickets, average 21.88, BBI: 5-27
PW: I’ve gone with Jasprit Bumrah, whose sample size is not vast. He’s only played 58 games. By comparison, Mitchell Starc has played 85, Trent Boult has played 89, so he’s behind them, but he’s not massively behind them. I will say with absolute confidence that when he gets those 30-odd games up, his record is not going to collapse. He’s a special cricketer.
DN: If he doesn’t get badly injured, he’s going to be the bowler of the next decade. He’s transforming ODI bowling, but the lack of weight of matches is why I couldn’t pick him. I’ve gone for Boult.
Adam Collins: Bumrah’s last couple of years suggest he’s going to be the stand-out bowler in world cricket for a long period of time.
PW: It’s just the body of work.
[caption id=”attachment_111614″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
Bumrah averages 21.88 in ODIs since his debut in 2016[/caption]
