This year was a strange one for ODI cricket. After the World Cup in 2023, most teams ended up prioritising the T20I format ahead of the T20 World Cup in June. Once that was over, the focus quickly shifted to Test cricket, with a spot in the 2025 World Test Championship final at stake.

It meant that there were wildly varying levels of involvement in ODIs. Sri Lanka, for example, played 18 ODIs while India and New Zealand played just three apiece. Unlike most combined XIs of this nature, there is only one player selected from the "Big Three" of India, England and Australia. We see it as a chance for some less-heralded players to get their due.

This is Wisden's men's ODI XI of 2024.

Saim Ayub

515 runs @ 64.4, SR 105.5 | 5 wickets @ 27.8, ER 4.6

Now only 22, Ayub only made his ODI debut in November (!) 2024, but his impact in nine matches for Pakistan so far is deserving of a spot in this XI. The 50-over format looks like the one he is most comfortable in, with one half-century and three centuries already. He has been handy with the ball as well, chipping in with five wickets. 2025 has started on a disappointing note, with an ankle injury, but if he's fit for the Champions Trophy on home soil, he could well light up the tournament.

Stand-out: Against South Africa in Paarl, Pakistan slipped to 60-4 in pursuit of 240, before Ayub counter-punched with a brisk 109 off 119 balls, his second ODI ton. He took his side to withing 39 runs of the target, before Salman Ali Agha finished the job off.

Pathum Nissanka

694 runs @ 63.1, SR 106.4

Nissanka is quickly making a name for himself as one of the most promising openers in white-ball cricket. He scored three centuries in 2024, all by March, but made significant contributions against India and West Indies later in the year. Nearly 700 runs at an average of over 60 in a calendar year is handy work, no matter who the opposition is.

Stand-out: His first innings of the year – 210 not out against Afghanistan in Pallekele – his first ODI double-hundred, and the only in the format in 2024. The knock powered Sri Lanka to 381-3, and eventually a 42-run win.

Keacy Carty

560 runs @ 62.2, SR 88.1

In 2022, Carty became West Indies' first international cricketer to hail from Sint Maarten. In 2024 he's the first from there to make it to Wisden's XI of the year. He scored just one century, but what stood out was the consistency of his returns over the year. he had just one single-digit score and was dismissed just thrice for less than 25.

Stand-out: His century, which came against England in November. Walking in at 42-1 with a target of 264 on the board, Carty put on 209 runs with Brandon King, remaining not out on 128 off 114 balls. Not only was this his highest score of the year, but also his quickest.

Kusal Mendis (wk)

742 runs @ 53.0, SR 90.6

Mendis was one of the outstanding wicketkeepers this year, along with Afghanistan's Rahmanullah Gurbaz. He pipped his competition by virtue of being the top run-scorer of 2024. He batted 17 times in ODI cricket, and got out for a single-digit score just once. He saved his best for the last – scoring 273 runs across his last three innings against West Indies and New Zealand in October and November.

Stand-out: Mendis scored one century this year, but his final innings was probably the best one. In a rain-shortened 47-over encounter against New Zealand, he came out at 23-1 before watching his teammates come and go as Sri Lanka slipped to 132-6 and another 78 runs still needed. He stood firm until the end, scoring 74 not out to take his side over the line with an over to spare.

Azmatullah Omarzai

417 runs @ 52.1, SR 105.6 | 17 wickets @ 20.5, ER 4.9

All-round contributions make Omarzai the ODI player of the year, but definitely makes him a shoo-in for this lineup. Still only 24 years old, 2024 provided a glimpse into his potential, particularly in the 50-over format. Capable of anchoring and accelerating with the bat, and taking the ball up front or as a middle-overs enforcer, Omarzai is a highly, highly valuable player.

Stand-out: He scored a career-best 149 not out in a losing cause against Sri Lanka in February, but Omarzai's standout performance came in November. His 4-37 helped restrict Bangladesh to 244-8, and then he walked in at 84-3 in the chase to put on 100 runs with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, eventually finishing off the job with an unbeaten 70.

Liam Livingstone

286 runs @ 57.2, SR 133.0 | 4 wickets @ 61.5, ER 7.7

The high-impact nature of Livingstone's game can make him inconsistent, but he shone this year, in his limited appearances. There were a couple of cameos against world champions Australia, as well as a match-winning century against West Indies. His ability to bowl leg-breaks and off-breaks also came in handy in the Caribbean.

Stand-out: His 124 not out against West Indies – a career high. England were 107-3 and behind the rate in pursuit of 329 in Antigua when Livingstone walked in. He took the opposition to the cleaners, smoking nine sixes in his knock, which came off just 85 balls. By the time he was done, Livingstone had taken England over the line with 15 balls to spare.

Sherfane Rutherford

425 runs @ 106.3, SR 120.1 | 2 wickets @ 65.0, ER 9.4

In 2024, Rutherford delivered on his flashes of immense promise. Across three series against Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh, he nailed down one of the most difficult batting roles today – a finisher in the 50-over format. Three unbeaten innings out of seven in all boosted his average into the three figures, but perhaps most pertinently he smashed 23 sixes, the most of anyone this year.

Stand-out: Another knock in a run-chase. Rutherford entered at 94-3 and exited at 288-5, seven runs short of a victory that was duly completed. In the intervening period, he smashed a career-best 113 off just 80 balls against a more-than-solid Bangladesh attack for the conditions, complete with seven fours and eight sixes.

Wanindu Hasaranga

26 wickets @ 15.6, ER 5.4 | 87 runs @ 17.4, SR 101.2

Hasaranga's batting wasn't really on show this year, but his bowling certainly was. His joint-most 26 wickets in just 10 matches cemented his status as one of the premium white-ball spinners going around in international cricket, even if almost all of them came on quite spin-friendly tracks.

Stand-out: Not the strongest opposition, but for sheer scale, the 7-19 against Zimbabwe – the fifth-best bowling figures in men's ODI history. Hasaranga removed all of Zimbabwe's top four and took the last two wickets to skittle them for 96 in a rain-shortened fixture. Sri Lanka went on to win by eight wickets.

Shaheen Shah Afridi

15 wickets @ 17.6, ER 5.1

It was a disappointing year on other fronts for Shaheen, but he excelled with the ball in ODI cricket. He picked up at least two wickets in five of his six matches, and remained economical throughout the year against two very strong opposition teams in Australia and South Africa, both away from home as well.

Stand-out: In December in Cape Town, South Africa were 185-4 in the 34th over, chasing 330 with David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen looking ominous. Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan turned to Shaheen, who responded by removing Miller with a peach of an incoming delivery before going on to dismiss Marco Jansen and Andile Phehlukwayo in consecutive overs to derail the chase completely. He finished with 4-47.

Allah Ghazanfar

21 wickets @ 13.6, ER 4.1

Only 18, Ghazanfar is the latest off Afghanistan's seemingly endless factory line of mystery spinners. Able to take the new ball, as well as turn it both ways at high pace, he showed he has all the ingredients to be a devastating player in limited-overs cricket. He has the world at his feet – how much higher can he go?

Stand-out: There was a 6-26 against Bangladesh among his hauls this year, but for shock factor his 10-over spell of 3-20 against South Africa might be the stand-out. Taking the new ball with Fazalhaq Farooqi in just his third ODI, Ghazanfar ripped out the middle-order – dismissing Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne and Jason Smith inside the powerplay – to help reduce them to 36-7. South Africa eventually posted 106, and Afghanistan won their first ever match against South them across formats.

Taskin Ahmed

14 wickets @ 23.9, ER 5.3

He only played seven matches in 2024, but Taskin Ahmed has quietly and gradually grown into one of the reliable ODI seamers. His ability to swing it up front, hit the deck hard and nail yorkers at the death make him a more-than-capable all-phase option. He tapered off slightly at the end of this year, but his first series against Sri Lanka saw him pick up eight wickets in three games.

Stand-out: In Chattogram in March, Taskin got Bangladesh off to a great start by removing both Sri Lankan openers, Nissanka and Avishka Fernando, in his first spell. His final figures of 3-42 helped restrict the visitors to 235, before Bangladesh's batters sealed a four-wicket win.

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