Last Updated on 3 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: 2021 ODI Team of the Year: Who makes the XI? | Picking the 2021 ODI XI of the Year: Which 11 players make the cut?
It’s been an odd year for ODI cricket. With the 50-over format already set to be on the back-burner, and with T20 World Cups scheduled before the next ODI global tournament in India in 2023, the format saw large gaps in the calendar.
In a way, it was fitting that the last ODI series of the year, between Pakistan and the West Indies, was postponed due to the emergence of COVID-19 in the biosecure bubble. As the prime focus was on the T20 format, the top-ranked ODI sides played very few one-day games as compared to the last two or three years which opened the gates for some new faces to showcase their talent in one day cricket and prove their worth at the highest level.
So, it’s that time of the year where we would look at the top 11 players picked across various categories like openers, middle-order, all-rounders, spinners, and pacers.
CricBlog’s 2021 ODI Team of the Year
1. Paul Stirling
The Ireland batter has been a prolific scorer for his side in limited-overs cricket, and this year was no different. In 14 innings, he has scored 705 runs at an average of 54.23. The Irishman smashed all his three centuries of 2021 in January with two of them coming against Afghanistan.
He topped the batting charts and deservingly gets a place in this playing eleven. Stirling can also chip in with a few overs with the ball in hand.
2. Tamim Iqbal
Tamim Iqbal has not been fit for a long amount of time this year, but he has made 464 runs in 14 innings at an average of 38.66 in the 50-over format. He brings so much value with the bat and can be an integral part of the leadership group too as he’s the ODI captain of Bangladesh. With the bat, his fearless approach at the start makes him a sure starter in the eleven.
3. Babar Azam (c)
Pakistan’s run machine and captain Babar Azam continues to rack up the runs. In 2021, he scored 405 runs at 71.50, including couple of centuries.
Babar continues to grow in stature as a quality white-ball batter. He also he quite sound from a tactical perspective, which is the reason he’ll be leading this team. He has a great batting average of 78.25 as skipper, indicating that he enjoys the responsibility of captaincy.
4. Janneman Malan
Before the start of this year, many didn’t know much about Janneman Malan. But now, he has left a major impact on the cricketing world.
The 25-year-old South Africa batter scored 509 runs in eight matches this year at an average of 84.83. He slammed two centuries and two half-centuries. That he overshadowed the likes of Quinton de Kock and Rassie Van der Dussen in this version of the game speaks volumes about his form this year with the bat as a newbie to the international scene.
5. Mushfiqur Rahim (wk)
The 34-year-old Bangladesh player will be our wicketkeeper-batter in this eleven. Rahim played the majority of his ODI games in the first half of the year, and still managed to score 407 runs at an astonishing average of 58.14. Mushfiqur has registered one half-century and two centuries in ODIs this year including a classy 125 against Sri Lanka.
6. Ben Stokes
England’s ever bankable player. Ben Stokes is a valuable addition at number six. Stokes can bat according to the situation and can give you 4-5 valuable overs whenever required. He can be a pure batter and when required he can be your wicket-taking option with the ball in hand.
Overall, Ben Stokes scored a total of 189 runs in six innings but his average of 37.80 and a thumping strike rate of 121.15 makes him a tough option to look past. He also took four wickets to go along with his tally of runs.
7. Simi Singh
The Ireland all-rounder registered his name in the history books this year after registering a hundred while batting at number 8. This was his first-ever international hundred as well.
His primary role has always been bowling but he showed enough skills with the bat to be labelled as an all-rounder in this eleven. With the ball, the off-spinner ended the year as the second-highest wicket-taker with 19 wickets at an economy rate of just 3.68. He also registered his best figures of 5/10 in this format in this year.
8. Sandeep Lamichhane
The newly-appointed skipper of the Nepal team, Sandeep Lamichhane has continued to make the most of his good fortune all year in 2021. He picked up 18 wickets in just six innings at an average of 7.38, with his best of 6/18 coming against Papua New Guinea.
Considering the impact of leg spinners in white-ball cricket, we chose the Nepal leg spinner over spinners like Adam Zampa, Wanindu Hasaranga, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Adil Rashid. He richly deserves a place in the ODI team of 2022 as the number one spinning choice.
9. Alzarri Joseph
The West Indian seamer hasn’t played as much ODI cricket this year as he did in 2020, but he looked threatening whenever he had ball in hand. In the nine games he played this year, he bagged 12 wickets at a very good economy rate of 4.32.
Because of his action and height, Alzarri can extract bounce from any wicket and can pick wickets in the middle overs of the game. Alzarri will be our third choice seam bowling option in this team.
10. Mustafizur Rahman
The leader of the Bangladesh pace attack was also one of the leading wicket takers in ODIs in 2021 with a total of 18 wickets at an average of 21.55 in 10 innings.
He keeps polishing his image as one of the world’s leading fast bowlers with the white ball. The left-arm pacer claimed a three-for in three of the last four matches Bangladesh played in 2021 and is the only left-arm fast bowling option in the team.
11. Dushmantha Chameera
Sri Lankan pacer Dushmantha Chameera was 2021’s leading ODI wicket-taker. He played 14 matches and picked up 20 wickets at an average of 29.30 and a wonderful economy rate of 5.51.
Chameera stood out with figures of 5 for 16 against Bangladesh in Dhaka in May, and stood tall in Sri Lanka’s difficult tour of England. He bossed the year with his express pace and ability to bowl wicket-taking deliveries. The tall Lankan bowler had a fruitful year and he became one of the key performers for his side in the 50-over format in 2021.
