Introduction to the role of all-rounders in cricket.

The term all-rounder is a rare commodity in the game of cricket. When cricketers try to master their core skill set of batting or bowling, a few unique players are masters in both facets of the game and contribute to the team’s success with both bat and ball. This article will seek to identify the best cricket all-rounder in the world.

We will identify players from the past and from the current era who have excelled in the formats they played in.

Criteria for ranking the all-rounders in history.

The following Criteria were taken into account

• Impact
  • How impactful was the contribution of the allrounder in the game?

• Consistency
  • How consistent was the player in impacting the game with both skills in all conditions?

• Match Winning Performances
  • How many times the team has benefited from the player’s all-round ability?

• Value to the team
  • How indispensable was the player for the team?

Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis is arguably the greatest all-rounder of all time. While he was exceptional with the ball and bat, he was also an excellent fielder and a safe slipper.

In 166 Test matches Kallis, he scored 13,289 runs with a 55.37 batting average and amassed 45 centuries, while securing 292 wickets at a 32.65 bowling average.

In ODIs, he played 328 matches, tallying 11,579 runs with a 44.36 batting average, 17 centuries, and 273 wickets at a 31.79 bowling average.

While T20 was not fully a developed format, the South African legend featured in 25 T20Is, scoring 666 runs with a 35.05 batting average and claiming 12 wickets at a 27.75 bowling average.

During his playing days, Kallis used to dominate the cricket all-rounder rankings

Garfield Sobers

In the second spot and arguably the best cricket all-rounder in the world during the 60s and 70s – Sir Garfield Sobers.

Sir Don Bradman, one of the greatest batsmen of all time and the player with the highest ever batting average in cricket called Sobers “a 5 in 1 player” because he excelled at everything, just leaving wicketkeeping aside.

Sobers was also the highest-ranked player in the ICC all Time all-rounder rankings

Sobers an aggressive left-handed batsman was also equally an exceptional bowler. His Left arm fast medium was difficult to negotiate making him a player, opposition feared.

Gary Sobers played 93 Test matches and scored 8032 runs with an average of 57.78. Being a Spectacular fielder, he was valuable in the field too. In the bowling department, he took 235 wickets at an average of 34.03.

Sobers only played one ODI match in his career.

His prowess on the field, alongside his exceptional batting and bowling skills, made him a formidable challenger and a cricket legend.

Sanath Jayasuriya

Sri Lanka produced one of the greatest all format allrounder in the game – Sanath Jayasuriya.

He revolutionized the Limited over games with his swashbuckling style of batting. Introduced to international cricket as a left-arm orthodox spinner and late-order batsman, Jayasuriya changed how ODI cricket is played when he started opening the Batting for his side.

A pioneer of Sri Lankan cricket, Jayasuriya’s explosive left-handed opening batting style revolutionized the art of opening in ODI cricket. With over 13,000 runs and 28 centuries to his name in ODI cricket coupled with nearly 7000 runs and 14 tons in Tests, he was a prominent batting-allrounder who could single-handedly turn the game around with both bat and ball.

Sanath Jayasuriya is still recognized as one of the most feared openers

The southpaw’s ability as a spinner bowled all the 10 overs for his side and was difficult to be scored of.

Jayasuriya as a bowler took a record-breaking 323 ODI wickets and 98 Test wickets in his career.

Jayasuriya will be remembered as the most entertaining cricketer to have ever graced the sport.

Kapil Dev

A natural athlete, Kapil Dev is arguably one of the greatest Indian cricketers to have played the game. He dominated the era he played and was the leading wicket-taker of his time at the time of his retirement.

He was also the best fielder in the Indian team and captained India to their maiden World Cup Triumph in 1983.

Kapil Dev was a true all-rounder who could win games with both the bat and the ball.

Being the Highest wicket-taker in his era when Kapil played most of his cricket on dead slow pitches in India is testimony to the skill this former Indian great possessed.

Also Read : Why India never produced another Kapil Dev

Kapil Dev was one in a million prodigy India produced and could have been in any international team either as a pure batsman or as a specialist bowler.

In 131 Test matches, Kapil Scored 5,248 runs with a 31.05 batting average, with 8 centuries. As a bowler, he took 434 wickets at an average of 29.64.

Kapil Dev scored 4000+ runs and took 400+ wickets. There have been many players who scored more runs or more wickets, but not both. This made Kapil Dev the Indian Cricketer of the Century and a true cricket legend

Imran Khan

Imran Khan is one of the biggest cricket legends of Pakistan

Imran Khan was a bowler who developed his batting considerably to make himself one of the leading all-rounders of his time.

He was the quickest of the famous Kapil, Hadlee, Botham era.

Imran Khan was a task master and not only was he the main player in the team he made an average looking Pakistan Team into the 1992 World Cup Champions.

While his dominant skill was bowling, injuries affected his bowling and his pace. He however focussed on his batting which made him the second-best batsman in the team after Javed Miandad.

He played 88 Test matches, scored 3,807 runs with a batting average of 37.69, and claimed 362 wickets at an average of 22.81.

SuperSports Note : Some Cricket Legends like Ian Botham, Sir Richard Hadlee misses out in the list but their contribution in the game is as important as the mentioned greats in our list.

Potential future all-rounders to watch

Apart from the above cricket legends, three all-rounders from the current playing lot stand out.

Ben Stokes, Ravindra Jadeja and Shakib al Hasan.

Ben Stokes is the current England Test Captain and he has been England’s go-to man in all formats when the team requires a heroic effort.

While he started his career as a medium-pace bowler, he is nicknamed the “Clutch- Player” for his heroics with the bat.

He single-handedly won the 2019 World Cup for England and was a key player in the 2021 T20 World Cup Finals.

Ravindra Jadeja is currently the best cricket all-rounder in the world. The Southpaw was always an effective bowler in bowling-friendly conditions but over the past 2 to 3 years he has transformed himself as a useful batsman in all the three formats of the game.

He is one of the few cricketers currently with 2500+ runs and 250+ wickets in Test.

Jaddu is one of the best fielders in the world. He is not only the best Test all-rounder India has ever produced, but his numbers prove he’s amongst the best all-rounders Test cricket has ever seen.

Shakib Al Hasan is a modern cricket legend. he has been dominating the ICC list in the allrounder category for quite some time now

Shakib has amassed over 13000 international runs and taken more than 600 wickets for Bangladesh.