Who Was The Best Cricket All-Rounder Of All Time?

 Who Was The Best Cricket All-Rounder Of All Time?

What is an all-rounder?

All-rounder is a term is used to describe in cricket that which player can play both balling and Batting.

Theoretically, a perfect all-rounder would be able to make a team either as a batter or a bowler.

5. Shaun Pollock

South Africa is one of the top producers of world-class all-rounders and Shaun Pollock is one of the best among bests. The right-arm fast bowling all-rounder was more dangerous with the ball than bat. Coming from a family of cricketing legends, Shaun was the most impressive among Pollocks. An international run tally of 7,386 is not amusing until you know that he batted predominantly at 7th and 8th positions. Pollock with his exquisite line and length combined with lethal swing caused destruction for opposition batting. A total of 829 international wickets puts him at the 7th position of all-time leading wicket-takers in international cricket. He became the captain of the national side after the Hansie Cronje incident proved his skills there as well. Shaun Pollock also had a short IPL career with Mumbai Indians after which he coached the side in later years.  

4. Andrew Flintoff

Andrew “Freddy” Flintoff is a name known for strong character and raw power-hitting. A proper all-rounder who has won a handful of matches for England across all formats in both departments. Flintoff is such a player who isn’t statistically superior to many but any cricket fan during his time knew how amazing he can be especially in big matches. He was one of the Man of the Series award winners of the legendary 2005 Ashes series along with Shane Warne. He fell into some controversies including the most infamous Fredalo incident and a series of injuries at the later phase of his career. Though he kind of vanished from cricket in his last years and then announced retirement in 2010, “Freddy” Flintoff will always be remembered as the enigmatic hero of England.

3. Sanath Jayasuriya

One of the pioneers of Sri Lankan cricket, Sanath Jayasuriya was an explosive left-handed opening batsman at the start who slowly showed great potential as a handy spinner. His international debut was in 1989 but the year he became one of the most feared batsmen was in 1996 when Sri Lanka won the World Cup. He not just makes runs; he makes them quick. Since naming him as the MVP of the 1996 World Cup, he switched his gears to change as a monster with the bat who scored a massive amount of runs and gets important wickets that turn matches. He broke the record of the fastest ODI century of his time (48 balls) and scored the fastest fifty in ODI in just 17 balls. Above all, if a player has more than 400 wickets and 20000 international runs, you have to realize that Sanath Jayasuriya wasn’t an ordinary player. 

2. Sir Richard Hadlee

There was a time in history where Richard Hadlee was a common nightmare for batsmen. A tall physical bowling all-rounder who can generate extraordinary pace, bounce, and swing at any conditions with his sideways manner of bowling. There is no doubt in calling him the greatest New Zealand player to ever grace a cricket pitch because of how important a figure he was for New Zealand Cricket as they compete with super-cricketing nations like Australia, England, and the West Indies. He is the first bowler to clinch 400 wickets in test cricket and also the 3rd bowler with the most 5 wicket-hauls in Test cricket. Richard Hadlee was honored with knighthood in 1990.

1. Kapil Dev

India is yet to find an all-rounder who comes even close to the talent of the great Kapil Dev. Famous for leading India to the 1983 World Cup, his contributions with bat and ball were nothing short of top-notch. He is still the only player to score 5000 Test runs and take 400 test wickets. His knock of 175 from just 138 balls against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup is arguably the best ODI innings ever played by an Indian, noting that India was 17 for 5 when Kapil came in to bat. And who can forget the backward running catch in the final of the World Cup to dismiss the dangerous Viv Richards. Kapil Dev is a physical marvel for cricketers all around the world even today. He could bowl incredibly long spells in test cricket and never missed a match due to fitness issues. Kapil Dev became the head coach of India for a very short period which sadly ended with match-fixing controversies.