The ultimate ODI XI of the 21st century

#7 Jos Buttler (England)

ODIs 148 | Runs 3,872 | HS 150 | Ave 38.72 | SR 118.7 | 100s 9 | 50s 20 |

Dismissals 213

Jos Buttler is modern England's first white-ball superstar.

Heading into the 21st century, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid produced a spectacle at Taunton in the 1999 World Cup. The carnage and the record partnership was witnessed by a young Jos Buttler in the crowd, who in years to come would make such carnage a habit.

Ideally, Buttler should bat at no.6. With that amount of cushion early on, the England superstar wouldn’t mind batting a step down and finishing the innings.

England’s resurgence in white-ball cricket is attributed to Eoin Morgan’s leadership, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Buttler’s methods with the bat that transported English cricket to the demands of 2010s as they went on to set new benchmarks thereafter.

If Dhoni decides to take a break from crouching and doesn’t want to disturb AB de Villiers' fielding position, he can gleefully hand the gloves to Buttler, who’s a very safe 'keeper. In fact, England's final act in the 2019 World Cup final came courtesy of Buttler's role as wicket-keeper.

Trivia: If we take the sum of Jos Buttler’s scores in his nine ODI hundreds, the strike rate reads 151. No batter with over 1,000 runs as hundreds come close in terms of strike rate. AB de Villiers is next on the list with 131.5, followed by Jonny Bairstow (122.6) and Virender Sehwag (122.2).

Misses in middle-order: Babar Azam (Pakistan), Joe Root (England), Faf du Plessis (South Africa), Steve Smith (Australia), Ricky Ponting (India), Eoin Morgan (England), Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Mike Hussey (Australia), Glenn Maxwell (Australia)

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#8 Shane Bond (New Zealand)

ODIs 82 | Wickets 147 | BB 6/19 | Ave 20.88 | Econ 4.28 | SR 29.2 | 4w 7 | 5w 4

Shane Bond celebrates the wicket of Ricky Ponting during the 2003 World Cup.

Injuries were his greatest foe, or else Shane Bond would have aced the era as the finest quick bowler in the era of Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar. In a career marred by frequent breakdowns, Bond was able to clock 150 kmph with ease, swing the ball late and both ways, and could crush toes with the lethal yorkers. He had a habit of troubling the best batters and raised his game when he played against Australia.

At his peak, Ricky Ponting was an incredibly difficult batter to bowl at. During the same time, Bond cherished the challenge and dismissed the then Australian skipper seven times in ODIs. He also got Virender Sehwag out six times and Brian Lara thrice in international cricket.

The best pacer to emerge from New Zealand since Sir Richard Hadlee, it’s a shame that Bond’s career just lasted 120 international games. Years after retiring, he has mentored champion pacers like Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult.

The Bond impact keeps superstars like Mitchell Starc and Brett Lee out of the side.

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#9 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka, Asia XI and ICC World XI)

ODIs 200 | Wickets 323 | BB 5/9 | Ave 21.01 | Econ 3.83 | SR 32.8 | 4w 11 | 5w 6

Muttiah Muralitharan is ODI cricket's most successful bowler.

Keeping the controversy over his bowling actions apart, Muttiah Muralitharan is a colossus of the sport. He leads the wicket-takers tables in ODIs. He’s also the most successful spinner of the 21st century. Those who played against him called him the most challenging bowler they faced.

Placed in fourth spot in the ICC's all-time ODI Rankings, Murali was rated the second-best ODI bowler in a statistical analysis done by Anantha Narayanan for ESPNCrincinfo.

The Sri Lankan legend is an easy pick as the lead spinner for this illustrious side.

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#10 Saeed Ajmal (Pakistan)

ODIs 113 | Wickets 184 | BB 5/24 | Ave 22.72 | Econ 4.18 | SR 32.6 | 4w 6 | 5w 2

Saeed Ajmal

Had Afghan leggie Rashid Khan played more against the top sides, he would have been a certainty in this line-up. It eventually came down to a tussle between Imran Tahir and Saeed Ajmal for the second spinner’s role, with the latter clinching it by a slender margin.

Debuting after 30, Saeed Ajmal filled the vacuum created by Saqlain Mushtaq’s absence in Pakistani cricket. An off-spinner more in the Saqlain mold than Murali's, Ajmal’s strengths lay in his variations – primarily doosra and deception with flight and speed.

A suspected bowling-action checkered his progress, but at his peak, he troubled the best of the batters in the world. He performed against every side he played against and doesn’t averages over 27 against any team he played more than two games.

Misses as spinners: Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Imran Tahir (South Africa), Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka), Brad Hogg (Australia), Graeme Swann (England), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)

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#11 Glenn McGrath (Australia and ICC World XI)

ODIs 128 | Wickets 198 | BB 7/15 | Ave 20.52 | Econ 3.78 | SR 32.5 | 4w 3 | 5w 5

Glenn McGrath bowls a short ball to England's Kevin Pietersen.

No bowler created as much impact as Glenn McGrath did in ODIs. A force behind Australia’s rise in the mid and the late 1990s, McGrath only got better with age. Neither did he bowl express pace like his Lee or Shoaib Akhtar, nor did he dart-in yorkers consistently like Waqar Younis or Wasim Akram. McGrath’s success with the white ball remained his line and length, the same formula that took him to the pinnacle of Test cricket. He hated giving away runs, and that’s a great habit in ODIs.

With or without McGrath, Australia won most of their games. But when McGrath played, the win-loss ratio plummeted further.

During McGrath’s time, men like Mark Waugh, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and their impact-man of the finales Adam Gilchrist would take center stage in the World Cups. Behind them operated McGrath with tremendous consistency. With 71 scalps, he remains the highest wicket-taker in World Cup history.

The spotlight eventually fell on him when at 37, he helped Australia win the 2007 World Cup and bagged the Player of the Tournament award. He became the first bowler to win this award in the World Cup.

Misses as pacers: Brett Lee (Australia), Trent Boult (New Zealand), Mitchell Starc (Australia), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Nathan Bracken (Australia)

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12th Man: Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

Shakib Al Hasan

The team selected is an all right-handed team. Shakib Al Hasan, the 12th man, adds variety. A safe fielder, an accurate bowler and a versatile batter, Shakib is the finest cricketer to emerge out of Bangladesh. He was the best player from in the 2019 World Cup and was unfortunate not to win the Player of the Tournament title.

Averaging 38 with the bat and below 30 with the ball, Shakib, rated the second-most valuable ODI player of the 21st century by CricViz, beat Shahid Afridi to the place.

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Ultimate ODI Team of the 21st Century: Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Andrew Flintoff, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Jos Buttler, Shane Bond, Muttiah Muralitharan, Saeed Ajmal, Glenn McGrath

12th man: Shakib Al Hasan