The ODI XI of the decade

Mitchell Starc (85 innings, 172 wickets, Econ: 5.02)

Mitchell Starc in his delivery stride

Left-arm quicks have always captured the imagination of the cricket-watching public and watching Mitchell Starc, whose primary weapons are his control over the swinging ball and his height, captures the imagination like no one else. He combines lightning pace and pin-point accuracy into a bowler who is, at his best, unplayable and at all other times, simply one of the hardest to face in the world.

Starc was the top wicket-taker in successive ODI World Cups (2015, which led his team to their 5th world cup win. and 2019). Since his ODI debut in 2010, he has picked up 172 wickets in 85 bowling innings, with a career economy of 5.02 and a strike rate of 25 being the standout statistics as a new ball bowler in the modern game.

His height (1.96 meters) and his amazing control over the swinging ball are his key weapons. As Australia’s spearhead in all formats of the game, he has often been plagued by injuries to his ankles, but he would be keen to continue staying at the top of his game as one of the leading fast bowlers of our time.

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Trent Boult (89 innings, 164 wickets, Econ: 5.05)

Trent Boult appeals for lbw

Yet another left-arm quick with a prodigious ability to swing the ball both ways finds himself as one of the leading ODI cricketers of the decade. From once being regarded as a test match specialist, to becoming the 7th fastest person to 100 wickets in ODIs since his debut in 2012, he has come a long way in the format.

Boult's 22 wickets in the 2015 World Cup (joint highest along with Mitchell Starc) included a spell of 5/27 in a miracle win against eventual final opponent and champion Australia. He remains the most recent person to have taken an ODI hat-trick at the time of writing, and he is also one of the few players to have taken multiple hattricks in the format.

With his status as a Kiwi great already carved in stone for the most part, the ICC’s No.2 ranked bowler in ODI cricket looks in prime position to be one of the pace spearheads of our time.