Greatest ODI XI of the post-1990 era

The first One Day International(ODI) was played in 1971 and very soon, the format became a gigantic success.

It was during the 1990s that several remarkable developments took place in the format - the strike rates of the batsmen and the economy rates of the bowlers climbed up rapidly.

The importance of having attacking openers was emphasised and the sport became more commercial.

In this article, I have tried to compile a list of all-time XI of the post 1990 era. Since the focus of the article is only about the post-1990 era, only those players who made their debut after 1990 or played the bulk of their cricket after 1990 are considered.

So this leaves out greats of the 1980s like Vivian Richards, Kapil Dev and Imran Khan to name a few.

Here is my selection of the Best ODI XI in the post-1990 era.

Openers

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar's career was one of many milestones

Needless to mention, Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman of the modern era. There may be a few contenders who made runs as consistently and as fast as Tendulkar but Tendulkar's longevity beats them all.

In both the Test and ODI formats, Tendulkar racked up incredible numbers and smashed many batting records. He scored the highest number of hundreds, runs and became the first person to attain the elusive individual 200-run landmark in ODI cricket.

In an amazingly long career that stretched beyond two decades, there was rarely a period when the 'Master Blaster' was woefully out of form, except by the lofty standards he set for himself.

Besides being a fantastic batsman, Tendulkar was a very fine bowler too who possessed the knack of breaking partnerships at critical junctures. At times, he swung the matches in India's way with the ball. His brilliant last over in the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa is a case in point.

Can anyone imagine a World XI without Tendulkar? 'The God of cricket' will open the batting for us.

#2 Adam Gilchrist (WK)

Whatever may be the format, Adam Gilchrist bludgeoned the bowling attacks at will

Adam Gilchrist was the cornerstone of the success of the world-beating Australian side of the late 1990s and the early 2000s.

When he entered the international arena, Gilchrist had huge shoes to fill as his predecessor was the great Ian Healy but he reached such glorious heights that he is ranked by many cricket pundits as the greatest wicket-keeper batsman ever.

In the shorter format of the game, Gilly opened the batting for Australia and did a phenomenal job at that. Right from the outset, he used to lay into the bowling attacks, smash them to smithereens, putting the opposition firmly on the back foot.

As a wicket-keeper, he set the standards by which the future keepers would be measured against. It was common to see him perform several acrobatic feats behind the wickets and pouching seemingly impossible catches.

For his belligerent batting, Gilly joins Tendulkar as the other opener and for his incomparable wicket-keeping skills, it is hard to think of any other player to don the gloves.

Other contenders for the openers spot included Sanath Jayasuriya, Virender Sehwag, and Herschelle Gibbs but it was impossible to look beyond the above two legends of the game.

Middle order

#3 Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is a prolific run-scorer in all forms of the game

A superstar in his own right, there is little doubt that Virat Kohli is one of the best batsmen today in all formats of the game.

With a strike rate of 91 and an average of 55 and still plenty of time left for him in his career, it can be safely said that he is relentlessly marching towards Tendulkar's tally of the highest number of runs and centuries in ODIs.

Leaving aside the possibility of whether he overhauls Tendulkar's records or not, the fact that those 'unsurpassable' records are under serious threat, something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago, is in itself a testament to Kohli's greatness.

Kohli's batting has few weaknesses and he can play shots all around the park. A salient feature of his batting is his record in run-chases. The pressure of chasing a target seems to bring the best out of him.

On more than a few occasions, Kohli has conjured up splendid knocks that made monumental targets appear ordinary and earned him the reputation of being a master chaser.

The run machine from India will occupy the No.3 slot in our batting lineup. Other contenders for this spot included Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, and Jacques Kallis, but Kohli's record-breaking feats make it impossible to leave him out.

#4 AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is a real daredevil and can score runs at a breakneck speed

Modern day cricket has witnessed the emergence of many batsmen who cleared the ropes with their brute power.

South Africa's AB de Villiers can smash sixes at will, but unlike most others, he does so playing the most unconventional shots and with oozing elegance and with a strike rate that more often than not breaches the 100 mark.

He is one of the hardest batsmen to bowl to, as he possesses a rare ability to hit sixes in virtually all corners of the park.

He is also one of the few handful of batsmen who average more than 50 in ODI cricket. He is a wonderful wicket-keeper but that skill often passes under the radar because of his extraordinary batting.

As a fielder, he is a live wire. De Villiers still has a few years left in cricket but he has already accomplished enough to be crowned as the 'greatest batsman of South Africa.'

At no.4, Mr.360 will get ample time to show the full force of his destructive ability.

#5 Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib Al Hasan is Bangladesh's talisman

It is only in the recent years that Bangladesh has shed the tag of 'minnows' and became a robust unit. The success of the 'Bangla Tigers' is in no small measure due to Shakib Al Hasan, the team's talisman and its most valuable player in both formats.

Without an iota of doubt, Shakib is the first and the only great to hail from Bangladesh. Both in the batting and bowling departments, he remains the lynchpin of the team.

If the top order collapses in a heap, Shakib can play the role of savior as he often does for Bangladesh and if it fares well, he can score quick runs to maintain the tempo of the innings.

So far, he has played 179 ODIs making in excess of 5000 runs at an average of 34 and at a very healthy strike rate of 81. With the ball, he has 226 scalps to his name.

He boasts of an equally brilliant record in Test cricket too. Overall, a strong case can be made that he is the best allrounder in the last decade. He will take up the no.5 slot in our lineup.

#6 Mahendra Singh Dhoni(C)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is arguably the greatest finisher in the ODI format

If there is one cricketer who could rival the legendary Sachin Tendulkar in terms of crowd appeal, it must be Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The ease with which he hammered sixes and pulverised the bowling attacks in the early part of his career made him the darling of the Indian spectators and once Dhoni made the initial impression with a blistering 148 against Pakistan in only his fifth ODI, there was no looking back for the 'dynamite from Jharkhand.'

Dhoni is one of the finest wicket-keepers in ODIs and is particularly well-known for stumpings that he performs in the blink of an eye.

As a captain, Dhoni has been simply marvelous. He led the young brigade of India to many glorious victories, including the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup triumph, and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

He will be the captain of our formidable side too. The only other candidate for the captaincy would be Ricky Ponting but the Aussie great, who batted at the top of the order in his entire career, cannot be considered for the no.6 slot.

With Gilchrist already in the squad, Dhoni will be slated as a specialist batsman.

#7 Lance Klusener

Lance Klusener ripped the bowlers to shreds

Lance Klusener's name will forever be associated with the semi-final of the 1999 World Cup. With only one wicket remaining, South Africa needed 9 runs off the last over to win and to reach the final.

Klusener was in imperious form throughout the tournament and smashed the first two balls from Damien Fleming for boundaries to level the scores. Much to the horror of the South African fans, Allan Donald was run out later making the contest a tie.

Although the Proteas could not cross the finishing line, Klusener became a hero for bringing his team to the brink of the final.

Klusener's ODI record is stupendous. In 171 ODIs, he scored 3576 runs at an average of 41 and a strike rate of 90. He was a very effective medium pace bowler too and grabbed 192 wickets.

At the No.7 spot, he can provide the impetus needed in the death overs and very few can do it better than Zulu. Other contenders for this slot include his compatriot Shaun Pollock, Chris Cairns and Andrew Flintoff.

Pace bowlers

#8 Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath is one of the finest fast bowlers in cricket history

The first thing that comes to mind when one hears of Glenn McGrath's name is his unswerving discipline with the ball that tamed even the most aggressive of batsmen.

McGrath's modus operandi was simple but brutally effective. He rarely bowled loose deliveries, stuck firmly to proper line and length, suffocated the batsmen and reaped rich rewards.

In the modern era, the Kangaroos were blessed with many top-notch pace bowlers and such was the strength of their pace battery that even a lethal bowler like Brett Lee, had to struggle to reclaim his spot after injury-related spells on the sidelines.

However, none of them could dethrone Glenn McGrath as the spearhead of the Australian pace attack. While there is Dennis Lillee in Tests to challenge McGrath's claim to be crowned as the country's greatest fast bowler, he faces absolutely no such competition in the ODI format.

McGrath grabbed 381 wickets in 250 ODIs, a highly commendable tally which amply demonstrates his wicket-taking ability but what is more astonishing is that he earned those wickets conceding runs at the rate of just 3.88 runs per an over.

#9 Wasim Akram

Wasim Akram was a genius with the ball

Undoubtedly, the greatest left-arm pacer in the entire history of the game, Wasim Akram was a player worth his weight in gold.

During the course of the 2003 World Cup, he created history by becoming the first bowler to take 500 wickets in ODIs, a feat achieved by no other cricketer except Muttiah Muralitharan.

If we look at the chart of top wicket-takers in ODIs, we can safely say that there won't be a third candidate in the 500 club anywhere in the foreseeable future.

It is hard to pinpoint a single facet of fast bowling as Akram's strength as he was a consummate bowler and excelled in all areas of pace bowling. Yorkers, bouncers, slower deliveries, swing - Akram ticked all the boxes.

He played a pivotal role in Pakistan's historic 1992 World Cup triumph and his 3/49 in the final put paid to England's hopes of laying hands on the coveted silverware.

As his strike rate of 88 shows, he was a hard-hitter with the bat as well and also served as skipper of the side for several years. 'The Sultan of Swing' will be the spearhead of our bowling attack.

#10 Brett Lee

Brett Lee was fast, furious and deadly

A fast bowler running like a cheetah, leaping high in the air at the time of delivery and sending in balls that reached the batsmen at the speed of a lightning makes for a delightful spectacle.

Brett Lee belonged to the exalted category of genuine fast bowlers and was one of the best exponents of yorkers in modern day cricket and will complete our pace attack. When on song, Lee wreaked havoc on the batting lineups.

As in case of all fast bowlers, Lee's career too was often hit by injuries, but when he was on the field, he was often the best wicket-taking option for Australia.

Lee bagged an incredible 380 wickets in just 221 matches and still holds the record for being the fastest bowler to reach the 300-wicket mark, a feat which he accomplished in 171 ODIs.

It may be tempting to include Waqar Younis, the other 'Sultan of Swing' from Pakistan in this lineup but the Aussie speedster edges him out narrowly by virtue of his big-hitting ability.

#11 Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan was Sri Lanka's biggest match-winner of his time

Such was the magic of Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling that every pitch he bowled on looked like a raging turner. Every other ball he delivered looked like taking a wicket.

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the bulk of the burden of Sri Lanka's bowling unit rested on the indefatigable shoulders of this giant from Kandy. By spinning a web of deceit and confusion around the batsmen, Murali bagged truckloads of wickets at a miserly rate.

For all the opposition teams, Murali's threat was so grave they would simply try to play out his overs without taking any chances against him. Even if that means only 35 or 40 runs off his 10 overs, they would be mighty pleased with it.

Despite such extensive pre-planning by the opposition, Murali's effectiveness was rarely blunted. Muralitharan is Sachin Tendulkar with the ball or if he had entered the scene of international cricket before Tendulkar, Tendulkar would have been Muralitharan with the bat.

With 534 wickets in 350 matches, Murali is the highest wicket-taker in ODIs and will be our frontline spinner.