Top 10: Greatest All-Rounders of All Time in Cricket

All-rounders in cricket are players with multiple skills. They can be the game changer and a match winner for the team with both their batting and bowling.

In this article, we will talk about the 10 greatest all-rounders of all time in cricket.

 

10. Andrew Flintoff (England)

England is known for producing quality fast-bowling all-rounders and Andrew Flintoff is one of them. He was known for his reverse swing with the ball, and he was powerful and destructive with the bat.

Andrew made his Test debut in 1998 and his ODI debut a year later. He represented England in 79 Tests, averaged 31 with the bat, and scored 3845 runs with 5 centuries and 26 half-centuries, which are great numbers for a lower middle-order batter. With the ball, Flintoff picked up 226 wickets.

The right hander was England’s important batter in ODIs too, where he played 141 matches and batted at No. 5 most of the time and averaged 46. With the ball, he picked up 169 wickets with 2 five-wicket hauls.

 

9. Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh)

Shakib Al Hasan is undoubtedly the greatest all-rounder from Bangladesh. He has found success in all three formats of the game.

In Test cricket, Shakib has so far represented Bangladesh in more than 60 matches, scored over 4,500 runs, and taken around 240 wickets with 19 five-wicket hauls to his name. 

Shakib has played around 250 ODIs, scored over 7,500 runs, and picked up more than 300 wickets. But his best performance came at the Cricket World Cup 2019 when he scored 606 runs in 8 innings and picked up 11 wickets.

In T20Is, Shakib has taken more than 140 wickets and has scored over 2,500 runs from 129 matches. 

 

8. Shaun Pollock (South Africa)

Shaun Pollock was a commendable all-rounder from South Africa. He was known for his patient batting and swing bowling.

Pollock picked up 421 wickets in his Test career, and alongside that, he also scored 3781 runs from 108 Tests with 2 centuries and 16 half-centuries.

In ODIs, Shaun holds the record for picking up the most wickets for South Africa, and no one even comes close to him. He picked up 387 wickets from 294 matches at an average of 24 and also scored over 3,500 runs.

 

7. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)

Sir Garfield Sobers was an elegant left-handed batter and a slow left-arm spinner who represented the West Indies in 93 Tests and 1 ODI.

In his Test career, Sobers scored 8032 runs at an average of 53 with 26 centuries and 30 half-centuries to his name, and with the ball, Sobers picked up 235 wickets with 6 five-wicket hauls to his name.

The left-hander was a handy all-rounder for the team, and he was one of the biggest reasons behind the West Indies’ dominance in Test cricket during the 1950s and 1960s.

 

6. Ian Botham (England)

Ian Botham is arguably one of the finest all-rounders in English and world cricket history. He played 102 Tests and 116 ODIs.

In Test cricket, Botham scored over 5,000 runs with 14 centuries and 22 half-centuries to his name, and with the ball, he picked up 383 wickets at an average of 28 with 27 five-wicket hauls.

With the ball, Botham was known for his abilities of swinging the ball both ways, which also helped him succeed with the new ball in ODIs, where he picked up a total of 145 wickets at an average of 28 and with the bat, he averaged 23, scoring over 2,000 runs.

 

Also Read | Ten Best Swing Bowlers in Cricket

 

5. Richard Hadlee (New Zealand)

Richard Hadlee was someone who could swing the ball both ways, even when conditions were not overcast. He bowled with extreme pace, tried bouncers on flat batting wickets, and made it tough for the batters to play him.

Hadlee has taken the most wickets for New Zealand in Test cricket history. He took 431 wickets from 86 Tests at an average of 22 with 36 five-wicket and 9 ten-wicket hauls to his name. As a lower-order batter, Hadlee found success and scored over 3,000 runs at an average of 27 in Tests.

Hadlee was a successful ODI cricketer too. He played 115 matches for New Zealand, picking up 158 wickets and scoring 1,751 runs.

 

4. Ben Stokes (England)

England’s current men’s Test team captain Ben Stokes is one of the best all-rounders of current times. He is someone who has stepped up for England under pressure most of the time, especially in Test cricket.

With the bat, Stokes is known for his destructive batting but at the same time he can play with patience too and with the ball, he gets late movements off the pitch and his late outswingers are tough to play.

Stokes has so far played more than 100 Tests and scored over 6,500 runs at an average of around 36. He has also taken over 200 Test wickets.

In ODIs, Stokes averages over 40 with the bat and around 42 with the ball after playing over 100 matches. He was one of the biggest reasons behind England’s Cricket World Cup triumph in 2019.

 

3. Imran Khan (Pakistan)

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan was one of the best all-rounders in Asia. Imran was a seam bowler and a handy batter. He represented Pakistan in 88 Tests and 175 ODIs and also led them to the Cricket World Cup win in 1992.

In Tests, Imran had a bowling average of 23. He picked 382 wickets with 23 five-wicket hauls and 6 ten-wicket hauls. With the bat, he scored 6 centuries and 18 half-centuries, with more than 3,800 runs to his name. 

 

2. Kapil Dev (India)

Kapil Dev, the man who led India to their first Cricket World Cup title in 1983, was arguably the best fast bowling all-rounder India ever produced, especially in red-ball cricket, where he represented India in 131 Tests, picked up 434 wickets at an average of 29 and scored over 5000 runs with the help of 8 centuries and 27 half-centuries. 

Kapil Dev was very consistent with the ball, and his line and lengths helped him in swinging the ball both ways, while with the bat, he was a destructive batter who was famous for hitting huge sixes.

In ODIs, Kapil had a strike rate of 95. He scored 3783 runs in the white-ball format, with 1 century and 14 fifties to his name.

 

1. Jacques Kallis (South Africa)

Jacques Kallis is truly the greatest all-rounder of all time. In both Test and ODI cricket, he scored over 11000 runs, and with the ball, he picked up more than 270 wickets. Kallis also represented South Africa in 25 T20Is, where he scored 666 runs and picked up 12 wickets.

Kallis had the ability to play long innings, and he also had the power to smash the ball and accelerate his innings. Kallis’s ability to adapt to the conditions and play for his team accordingly was commendable.

Despite being an all-rounder, Kallis holds the record for scoring the most runs for South Africa in Test cricket. He scored 13289 runs from 280 innings at an average of 55, with 45 centuries and 58 half-centuries to his name.

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