Top 5 all-rounders of modern-day Test cricket

Being an all-rounder is probably the toughest job in cricket as it requires a player to be adept at more than one skill. In cricket, the era after 1990 is widely considered the modern era. As compared to the 1980s, which is regarded as the golden era for all-rounders due to the presence of four legendary all-rounders (Imran Khan, Ian Botham, Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev), the post-1990 era saw a decline in Test allrounders.

While this period saw the emergence of excellent ODI all-rounders and 'bits and pieces' players who masqueraded as all-rounders, only a handful of them managed to shine in Test cricket, proving that excelling as a Test allrounder is far tougher than doing so in ODIs.

Here are the top 5 Test all-rounders in the modern era.

#1 Jacques Kallis

If we go by the weight of statistics alone, Jacques Kallis will be ranked by many as no.1 in the list of the greatest all-rounders. Kallis had a watertight technique and his defensive game was suited more to Test cricket than to ODIs, where his low strike rate sometimes came in for bitter criticism.

Once Kallis got set, it was very difficult to dislodge him due to his almost impregnable defence. Such are the batting feats of Kallis that even if he did not take a single wicket, he would still go down in history as one of the all-time greats.

In the latter half of his career, his bowling workload reduced as he focused solely on batting but he was a wonderful pacer too, with 292 wickets to his name. When on song, he could swing matches with the ball as well. He remains the only player in history to score 10,000 runs and take 250 wickets in two forms of the game.

Note: In all the slides of the article, first 'Ave' in the table corresponds to 'Batting Average' and the second 'Ave' corresponds to 'Bowling Average.' SR refers to 'Bowling Strike Rate.'

#2 Shaun Pollock

Shaun Pollock persistently harassed the batsmen with his flawless line and length

It may come as a bit of a surprise, but if one goes through the stats of Shaun Pollock, they will find that his all-round feats are comparable to that of Jacques Kallis. A bowler of the classical variety and a coach's delight, he earned a great reputation for his flawless line and length that shackled the batsmen and forced them to take risks, often leading to their downfall.

Pollock was an extremely capable batsman and averaged 32 in Tests, which is more than just handy for a batsman in the lower order.

Pollock is one of a handful of players who achieved the double of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. Along with Allan Donald, the South African metronome formed one of the most lethal bowling partnerships in the modern era. Just like Glenn McGrath, the Aussie great, Pollock was highly disciplined and brutally effective.

#3 Shakib Al Hasan

Shakib is Bangladesh's first superhero and an inspirational figure in the country

The first, and till date, only great from Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan entered the international arena in 2006 when Bangladesh had not yet fully gotten rid of the tag of minnows. More than a decade later, they are a robust unit and can give the top teams a run for their money. And the contribution of Shakib to this remarkable transformation is monumental. For quite some time now, the Bangla talisman has been the most consistent all-rounder in world cricket.

He is, by a huge distance, the most valuable player in the Bangladesh cricket team in all formats. For opposing bowlers, Shakib the batsman is the most prized scalp and for their batsmen, Shakib the bowler is the most serious threat. While Shakib towers over his teammates, he holds his own when his numbers compared with other great all-rounders of the modern era.

He averages 40 with the bat and is the bedrock of the Bangladesh middle-order. His left arm off spin is equally effective. Considering that Shakib is only 30 now, he is sure to move up the list of all-time great all-rounders by the time he hangs up his boots.

#4 Daniel Vettori

No contemporary player bowled left-arm spin as beautifully as Vettori

New Zealand struggled to produce a world-class spinner until the emergence of Daniel Vettori, but in him, they finally found one very skilful practitioner of the trade. When he called it a day, he had taken more Test wickets than any other Kiwi bowler except the incomparable Sir Richard Hadlee.

While he is undoubtedly the country's greatest spinner of all-time, one struggles to find the name of the second best. It only goes to show the chasm that exists between Vettori and his rivals in the country's spin history.

In the second half of his career, Vettori blossomed as a batsman, so much so that he was the team's most dependable batter after Ross Taylor at one point in time. His batting average rose steadily, giving him entry into the exalted club of all-rounders.

#5 Andrew Flintoff

Flintoff's all-round feats made him a superstar in English circles

For the first few years in international cricket, Andrew Flintoff struggled to live up to his promise, but later he went on to establish himself as one of the finest all-rounders of his generation.

His all-round feats in the 2005 Ashes played a pivotal role in England winning the series and triggered a fiery debate - "Is he as good as Sir Ian Botham?" The way in which he tormented the likes of Adam Gilchrist in the series became the stuff of legends.

A look at the careers of both players reveals that Botham is the better all-rounder by a notch but the mere fact that Flintoff became the only English player to elicit comparisons with the legendary all-rounder is in itself a massive honour.

Physically, 'Freddie Flintoff' was an intimidating figure with a giant frame and he carried the same intimidating aura into his batting as well. He could batter the ball a long way and launch a murderous assault on bowling attacks. For a period of time, England's success or failure heavily depended on the performance of Flintoff. Nobody except Kevin Peterson has had as much impact on England's fortunes.