Shoaib Akhtar picks top 10 ODI cricketers from India and Pakistan who he played with or against

[Abdullah719]

Former Pakistani paceman Shoaib Akhtar was known for his electrifying pace and incredible capability of bowling constantly at 150 kmph. The right-armer used to terrify batsmen of all the teams simply by his long run-up and unreal speed.

Apart from his tremendous bowling, Akhtar is also famous for voicing out his opinions on several topics related to the game and players. Recently, he showed a glimpse of it when Akhtar was asked to pick top 10 players from Pakistan and India.

It is a well-known fact that Akhtar has met several outstanding batters in his cricketing career, but his battle with Indian players was always a treat to watch. During the chat on Helo app, the “Rawalpindi express’ responded to the question regarding the top-10 ODI players from both nations. He selected four Indians, and six Pakistanis in the list.

Starting from the Indian side, Akhtar went with four batsmen. He started the proceedings by naming the iconic Sachin Tendulkar as his first choice. The 44-year-old then chose ‘The Wall’ Rahul Dravid. Akhtar didn’t just stop there, he went on to pick attacking opener Virender Sehwag, and in the end, he picked the 2011 World Cup-winner Yuvraj Singh.

When it comes to the Pakistan side, Akhtar went with two reliable batsmen in the form of legendary Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq. For the role of an all-rounder, Akhtar named veteran Abdul Razzaq. The remaining three were bowlers as Akhtar chose the ultimate pace duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Saqlain Mushtaq was chosen as the lone spinner by Akhtar.

Akhtar had a marvellous career for Pakistan cricket. In 46 Tests, the right-armer claimed 178 scalps with 12 times he earned a five-wicket haul while ten times Akhtar accomplished a four-wicket haul. In ODIs, the former paceman grabbed 247 wickets in 163 games. For six times, Akhtar bagged a four-wicket haul in the 50-over format and four times he produced a five-wicket haul performance.

Here are Shoaib Akhtar’s top 10 ODI cricketers from India and Pakistan:

Sachin Tendulkar, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Abdul Razzaq, Yuvraj Singh, Saqlain Mushtaq, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis.

https://crickettimes.com/2020/06/sh...icketers-of-all-time-from-india-and-pakistan/

 

[Abdullah719]

Presumably there is some solid reasoning behind picking Dravid but not Kohli?

 

[Forward Defensive Push]

Razzaq but no Imran?

 

[Bhaijaan]

For his era,Dravid was a great middle order ODI batsman. When you have GOAT in your line up, often some very good to great cricketers look ordinary in comparison but it is true that Dravid would probably be regarded as Pakistan's greatest ODI batsman ever if he played for them instead.

Dravid is an ODI superstar literally for any team of his era except for India and Australia.

 

[therealAB]

For me:
Sachin
Virat
Wasim
Dhoni

top 4 all very close and top tier contenders for an ATG XI (Sachin, Virat locks)

Saqlain (2nd best ODI spinner after Murali, and very, very close to Murali)
Saeed Anwar (what a player, for me top 5 opener of all time in ODI)
Imran Khan (not as good in ODI in test but still very, very good)
Waqar Younis (ATG ODI bowler, deadly on his day)
Zaheer Abbas (After Viv was one of the best ODI batsmen early days with Chappell and Turner)
Rohit Sharma (think he is overrated but still a top player, one of the cleanest ball strikers ever!)

 

[Bhaijaan]

Bhaijaan's Top 10 Asians from India and Pakistan who ever played ODI cricket :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar, also greatest of all time ODI cricketer

2. Virat Kohli, also second greatest ODI batsman ever, also greatest chaser ever

3. Waqar Younis, also 2nd greatest ever ODI fast bowler ever after Allan Donald - The White Lightening

4. MS Dhoni, also greatest ever finisher

5. Wasim Akram, also 2nd greatest left handed bowler ever in ODIs

6. Kapil Dev, also greatest ever finisher

7. Rohit Sharma, also 3rd greatest ODI batsman ever

8. Shoaib Akhtar, also fastest bowler ever

9. Mohammad Azharuddin, also most stylish batsman ever

10. Imran Khan, also most good looking guy in this list

 

[therealAB]

Bhaijaan's Top 10 Asians from India and Pakistan who ever played ODI cricket :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar, also greatest of all time ODI cricketer

2. Virat Kohli, also second greatest ODI batsman ever, also greatest chaser ever

3. Waqar Younis, also 2nd greatest ever ODI fast bowler ever after Allan Donald - The White Lightening

4. MS Dhoni, also greatest ever finisher

5. Wasim Akram, also 2nd greatest left handed bowler ever in ODIs

6. Kapil Dev, also greatest ever finisher

7. Rohit Sharma, also 3rd greatest ODI batsman ever

8. Shoaib Akhtar, also fastest bowler ever

9. Mohammad Azharuddin, also most stylish batsman ever

10. Imran Khan, also most good looking guy in this list

How did I miss Kapil

Underrating Viv and ABdV there in terms of batsmen. Both are >> Rohit for me

So true with #10

 

[TeymurBlake]

Razzaq?????

WHAT!

 

[Rajdeep]

My top 10 Indo-Pak ODI players:

Sachin
Ganguly
Virat
Inzamam
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Kapil
Imran
Wasim
Saqlain

 

[Last Monetarist]

My top 10 would be:

1. Kohli
2. Wasim
3. Tendulkar
4. Rohit
5. Dhoni
6. Waqar
7. Kapil
8. Saeed
9. Yuvraj
10. Saqlain

 

[Ab Fan]

Presumably there is some solid reasoning behind picking Dravid but not Kohli?

He has picked players against or with whom he played. So, no Kohli or Dhoni and no Imran/Zaheer Abbas. Good list considering that.

 

[Ab Fan]

My top 10 will be

1. Wasim Akram
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Virat Kohli
4. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
5. Kapil Dev
6. Saqlain Mushtaq
7. Waqar Younis
8. Rohit Sharma
9. Imran Khan
10. Zaheer Abbas/Yuvraj Singh/ Saeed Anwar

And many more names come up when we go deeper.

 

[last_knight]

Bhaijaan's Top 10 Asians from India and Pakistan who ever played ODI cricket :-

5. Wasim Akram, also 2nd greatest left handed bowler ever in ODIs

Bhaijaan who is The Greatest LH bowler in ODI ?

 

[Bhaijaan]

Bhaijaan who is The Greatest LH bowler in ODI ?

Mitchell Starc bro

 

[Slog]

lol one of kapil dv or imran khan. kapil dev arguably better in ODIs

 

[Mamoon]

He only picked players that he played with and against.

 

[last_knight]

Mitchell Starc bro

Isn't it bias to not use same filter for all players ?
If Starc > Wasim then surely the filter will have some >> Sachin.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Isn't it bias to not use same filter for all players ?
If Starc > Wasim then surely the filter will have some >> Sachin.

Which filter bro

 

[ask_analyse_act]

The game of cricket has evolved a lot since Imran Khan, Kapil dev and gavaskar eras to now. It is more a batsmen centric game nowadays. In those days bowlers like manoj prabhakar can bowl the first over and swing at 120-130 kph and be a good swing bowler. Today the pace of Archer and swing of boult, Amir is getting carted all around the park...

There should be a team for 70s 90s and 2010s

 

[Bhaijaan]

The game of cricket has evolved a lot since Imran Khan, Kapil dev and gavaskar eras to now. It is more a batsmen centric game nowadays. In those days bowlers like manoj prabhakar can bowl the first over and swing at 120-130 kph and be a good swing bowler. Today the pace of Archer and swing of boult, Amir is getting carted all around the park...

There should be a team for 70s 90s and 2010s

Imran is a mediocre ODI cricketer at best but Kapil Dev makes a modern day ODI batting line up #6 with the bat alone.

Honestly the knocks Kapil has played against some of the greatest fast bowlers ever leave a lot of top rated batsmen to shame.

 

[Abdullah719]

He has picked players against or with whom he played. So, no Kohli or Dhoni and no Imran/Zaheer Abbas. Good list considering that.

Well then, the article's title wasn't very accurate... Will amend the thread accordingly, thanks.

 

[msb314]

Well then, the article's title wasn't very accurate... Will amend the thread accordingly, thanks.

Shoaib Akhtar has played against Dhoni and Kohli.

If you have doubts - I can pull the scorecards

 

[Abdullah719]

Shoaib Akhtar has played against Dhoni and Kohli.

If you have doubts - I can pull the scorecards

Yeah, I remember. Presumably he went with the ones he played against for a substantial period.

 

[Rajdeep]

Shoaib Akhtar has played against Dhoni and Kohli.

If you have doubts - I can pull the scorecards

Correct me but he never bowl against Kohli right?

 

[andy0204]

Correct me but he never bowl against Kohli right?

He bowled during 2010 Asia Cup.

 

[Ab Fan]

Well then, the article's title wasn't very accurate... Will amend the thread accordingly, thanks.

I am not sure if he specifically mentioned anywhere that he is choosing only those names but anyways, cricketers don't really follow these constraints or limits when choosing their top 10 or any other list. They would just recall their memories of the players they played with or against and pick them.

 

[andy0204]

My top 10 Indo-Pak players in Odi

Wasim Akram
Kapil Dev
Sachin Tendulkar
Ms Dhoni
Zaheer Abbas
Saqlain Mushtaq
Imran Khan
Yuvraj Singh
Saurav Ganguly/Rohit Sharma
Waqar Younis.

 

[last_knight]

Which filter bro

The filter that has Starc > Wasim.
On what basis ?

 

[Bhaijaan]

The filter that has Starc > Wasim.
On what basis ?

Starc is ahead of Wasim for having better returns in a worse era for fast bowling in ODI cricket. Besides he's GOAT bowler in world cups.

 

[Rajdeep]

My top 10 Indo-Pak ODI players:

Sachin
Ganguly
Virat
Inzamam
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Kapil
Imran
Wasim
Saqlain

My bad as my list was in playing order. Below are my rankings:

Sachin
Virat
Wasim
Dhoni
Kapil
Imran
Yuvraj
Ganguly
Saqlain
Inzamam

 

[Titan24]

Imran is a mediocre ODI cricketer at best but Kapil Dev makes a modern day ODI batting line up #6 with the bat alone.

Honestly the knocks Kapil has played against some of the greatest fast bowlers ever leave a lot of top rated batsmen to shame.

Imran had batting average of 33 and bowling average of 26. On what criteria this is mediocre and on what basis Kapil was better with batting average of 23 and bowling average of 27.

Batting someone at no 6 wit an average of 23 in modern day cricket would mean a pretty thin batting lineup. Yes Kapil had a high SR but if thats the basis of your conclusion then Shahid Afridi would make a legendary no 6 batsman and he had a better batting average than Kapil as well.

 

[sweep_shot]

I started to watch cricket from 1996. Here is my combined Pak-Ind XI:

Sachin
Rohit
Babar
Kohli
Inzamam
Afridi
Dhoni
Saqlain
Wasim Akram
Bumrah
Shoaib Akthar.