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The greatest Men's International Cricketers of the century

Hitman

Hitman

Senior T20I Player
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Feb 25, 2013
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What's sport without heroes? Or memories and nostalgia? In a world where every moment can be a swipe, and is therefore instantly perishable, sport affords us the luxury, and the comfort, of being able to dip into the warmth of the past and feel the glow.

We at ESPNcricinfo are immersed in the hustle of daily cricket. We live every moment of it. But every once in a while, we also make the time to relive what came before, the springboard that the past provided for the present, the players and performances that inspired generations to come.

Twenty-five years is a brief time in history, but 2000 to 2025 feels like an era in cricket. When you look back at this period, it can seem as though the game has been completely reshaped, particularly by the influence of T20. But what defines greatness is timelessness: when you study the finest players who lit up the game in this time, you realise that even as the boundaries of what is possible keep shifting, cricket's essential craft remains tethered to its traditions. Batters still build their innings through placement and judgement, bowlers still rely on extracting responses from the surface or the air. After all, 360 degrees brings you back to where you started.

These observations held true in our exercise to put together a list of the greatest in the last 25 years, beginning with the greatest in men's international cricket, as picked by a panel of eminent former cricketers and commentators.

We first compiled a longlist of 70-plus cricketers, based on the players' statistics and by assessing the weight of their achievements. This was then narrowed down to 30 names after a rigorous process involving vetting by the site's senior editorial staff. The list of 30 was sent out to the jury, each of whom was asked to pick their top 25, which would yield us the greatest batter, the greatest bowler, and greatest all-round cricketer.

But while international cricket has held prime place for most of the game's history, this century, T20 has nearly overtaken internationals in how keenly they are contested and how they are driving the game into the future. So we ran a similar exercise involving a 15-member jury to vote for the best men's T20 batter and the best men's T20 bowler.
​

The jury for greatest men's international cricketers​


Ajit Agarkar Former India fast bowler; selector
Wasim Akram Former Pakistan fast bowler and captain
Ian Bishop Former West Indies fast bowler; broadcaster
Mark Boucher Former South Africa wicketkeeper-batter and coach
Carlos Brathwaite Former West Indies allrounder
Greg Chappell Former Australia batter and selector; former India coach
Allan Donald Former South Africa fast bowler; bowling coach
Faf du Plessis Former South Africa batter and captain
Aaron Finch Former Australia batter and captain
Andy Flower Former Zimbabwe batter and captain; former England coach
David Gower Former England batter and captain; broadcaster
Stephen Harmison Former England fast bowler
Matthew Hayden Former Australia batter
Shan Masood Pakistan batter and captain
Tom Moody Former Australia allrounder; coach
Angelo Mathews Sri Lanka allrounder and former captain
Eoin Morgan Former England batter and captain; broadcaster
Irfan Pathan Former India allrounder; broadcaster
Cheteshwar Pujara Former India batter
Ravi Shastri Former India allrounder and coach; broadcaster
Tim Southee Former New Zealand fast bowler and captain
Ross Taylor Former New Zealand batter and captain
Jonathan Trott Former England batter; coach
Daniel Vettori Former New Zealand allrounder and captain
Shane Watson Former Australia allrounder
​

The jury for the greatest men's T20 batter and bowler​


R Ashwin Former India bowler
Ian Bishop Former West Indies fast bowler; broadcaster
Shane Bond Former New Zealand fast bowler; coach
Carlos Brathwaite Former West Indies allrounder
Rahul Dravid Former India batter and captain; coach
Faf du Plessis Former South Africa batter and captain
Aaron Finch Former Australia batter and captain
Stephen Fleming, Former New Zealand captain; coach
Andy Flower Former Zimbabwe batter and captain; coach
Matthew Hayden Former Australia batter
Irfan Pathan Former India allrounder; broadcaster
Tom Moody Former Australia allrounder; coach
Ambati Rayudu Former India batter
Dale Steyn Former South Africa bowler
Daniel Vettori Former New Zealand allrounder and captain

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/the-greatest-men-s-international-cricketers-2000-2025-1510638
​
 
25. R Ashwin
24. Stuart Broad
23. Kevin Pietersen
22. Virender Sehwag
21. Mahela Jayawardene
20. Pat Cummins
19. Ben Stokes
18. Chris Gayle
17. Mitchell Starc
16. Kane Williamson
15. Jasprit Bumrah
14. MS Dhoni
13. James Anderson
12. Rahul Dravid
11. Adam Gilchrist
10. Steven Smith
9. Joe Root
8. Steyn
7. Kumar Sangakkara
8. Ab De Villiers
5. Ricky Ponting.
4. Muttiah Muralitharan
3. Virat Kohli
2. Sachin Tendulkar
1. Jacques Kallis.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think Jacques Kallis is the greatest cricketer of all time when you consider his batting, bowling, and fielding records.

Bradman is the greatest batter and McGrath/Wasim is the greatest bowler. But, greatest cricketer is Kallis for me.
 
Hitman said:
25. R Ashwin
24. Stuart Broad
23. Kevin Pietersen
22. Virender Sehwag
21. Mahela Jayawardene
20. Pat Cummins
19. Ben Stokes
18. Chris Gayle
17. Mitchell Starc
16. Kane Williamson
15. Jasprit Bumrah
14. MS Dhoni
13. James Anderson
12. Rahul Dravid
11. Adam Gilchrist
10. Steven Smith
9. Joe Root
Click to expand...
Is this all format list?
 
Interesting list. What's the criteria players who have played in that timeframe or debuted in that time frame?

Surprised to see Smith so low.
 
Hitman said:
25. R Ashwin
24. Stuart Broad
23. Kevin Pietersen
22. Virender Sehwag
21. Mahela Jayawardene
20. Pat Cummins
19. Ben Stokes
18. Chris Gayle
17. Mitchell Starc
16. Kane Williamson
15. Jasprit Bumrah
14. MS Dhoni
13. James Anderson
12. Rahul Dravid
11. Adam Gilchrist
10. Steven Smith
9. Joe Root
Click to expand...
One straight up bias I see here is Smith being rated lower than Root.
 
Top 8:-

Kohli
Ponting
Tendulkar
Kallis
McGrath
Steyn
AB de Villiers
Sangakkara
 
smith and root at 10 and 9 respectively is mad, in an era where bilaterals mean nothing in white ball cricket to denegrate the two best test batters of this generation is mad disrespectful, and its not like root has a poor odi record either.

ms dhoni and chris gayle higher than pat cummins? that says everything, an IPL list for IPL fan boys. cricinfo lost its integrity ages ago. format mixing is a curse, and any stats or list that try to equate test cricket to the other formats in anyway makes a mockery of the game and abuses the ignorance of the casual fan who thinks test cricket and t20 are the same sport.
 
What a dreadful list.

The 2 greatest are Warne & Akram who are dead certs in everyone’s world xi rest are debatable.
 
2000-2025: 1. Glenn Mcgrath, 2. Shane warne, 3. Muttiah Muralidaran, 4. Ricky Ponting, 5. Sachin tendulkar, 6. Virat Kohli, 7. Adam Gilchrist, 8. Jacques Kallis, 9. MS Dhoni, 10. AB Devilliers
 
Smith is the best batter since 1990s alongside Lara and tendulkar, Root is amazing, but he is a tier below mate sorry, should be higher
 
ElRaja said:
smith and root at 10 and 9 respectively is mad, in an era where bilaterals mean nothing in white ball cricket to denegrate the two best test batters of this generation is mad disrespectful, and its not like root has a poor odi record either.

ms dhoni and chris gayle higher than pat cummins? that says everything, an IPL list for IPL fan boys. cricinfo lost its integrity ages ago. format mixing is a curse, and any stats or list that try to equate test cricket to the other formats in anyway makes a mockery of the game and abuses the ignorance of the casual fan who thinks test cricket and t20 are the same sport.
Click to expand...
Chris Gayle cracked two triple centuries and also did his universe boss stuff in this time period too.

When do you think bilaterals stopped meaning something? I reckon around 2012. So half of the time period is when 2025 is covered.

The list does seem low and I agree with what you have said about equating T20 and Test too. Will be interesting to see how it pans out, the top could have Kallis, Ponting, Lara, Sanga, Tendulkar etc.
 
sithb said:
No Pakistani player in the top 25 ?
Click to expand...
Even if Wasim and waqar are touted as 90s products , shoaib should have gotten a mention in top 25 atleast. Sure he's hit or miss. But then so was Chris Gayle
 
sithb said:
Even if Wasim and waqar are touted as 90s products , shoaib should have gotten a mention in top 25 atleast. Sure he's hit or miss. But then so was Chris Gayle
Click to expand...
Pretty easy for Shoaib to befool his blind fans. Unfortunately for him, he can't befool a bunch of 25 people consisting of former cricketers.​
 
Hitman said:
Pretty easy for Shoaib to befool his blind fans. Unfortunately for him, he can't befool a bunch of 25 people consisting of former cricketers.​
Click to expand...
He deserved a look in. I don't doubt the neutrality of the people in the panel. But if sehwag and Gayle could get in , so could shoaib
 
Sehwag is essentially a one format player , if he gets a nod for that. Shoaib with his limited career needs to be under consideration.

As should Younis Khan , vvs laxman btw. Laxman averaged close to 50 once he had a fixed batting place.
 
Younis has a good case. He scored 10k test runs in that period and captained a t20 world cup win, but I just can't see him making it Infront of Smith.

Some are underrating Gayle a bit though. 42 runs test average as an opener plus a formidable body of LOI work. He was a solid cricketer in this era across formats.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Chris Gayle cracked two triple centuries and also did his universe boss stuff in this time period too.

When do you think bilaterals stopped meaning something? I reckon around 2012. So half of the time period is when 2025 is covered.

The list does seem low and I agree with what you have said about equating T20 and Test too. Will be interesting to see how it pans out, the top could have Kallis, Ponting, Lara, Sanga, Tendulkar etc.
Click to expand...
im not denegrating his acheievements, hes a WI great, but hes not a better international cricketer than cummins. imo tests should always be weighed more, and cummins is in a diff league to gayle in tests, but cummins is arguably one of the greatest three format seamers ever so even if we weigh the formats equally, cummins is a better player and a world class captain to boot.
 
Hitman said:
25. R Ashwin
24. Stuart Broad
23. Kevin Pietersen
22. Virender Sehwag
21. Mahela Jayawardene
20. Pat Cummins
19. Ben Stokes
18. Chris Gayle
17. Mitchell Starc
16. Kane Williamson
15. Jasprit Bumrah
14. MS Dhoni
13. James Anderson
12. Rahul Dravid
11. Adam Gilchrist
10. Steven Smith
9. Joe Root
8. Steyn
Click to expand...
Stuart broad in no way is better than ashwin and thats just start of list
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Younis has a good case. He scored 10k test runs in that period and captained a t20 world cup win, but I just can't see him making it Infront of Smith.

Some are underrating Gayle a bit though. 42 runs test average as an opener plus a formidable body of LOI work. He was a solid cricketer in this era across formats.
Click to expand...

Yoni bhai certainly a Top 15 player of this century so far.
 
just realissed theres no graeme smith or AB De Villiers on the list, there is no way gayle, jayawardene, sehwag are better than those two, and theres no way AB deserves to be in the top 7 with his rubbish T20I record. graeme smith is arguably the most balanced odi and test opener in that era, and one of the greatest captains to boot, how on earth does he not make it in there.
 
ElRaja said:
im not denegrating his acheievements, hes a WI great, but hes not a better international cricketer than cummins. imo tests should always be weighed more, and cummins is in a diff league to gayle in tests, but cummins is arguably one of the greatest three format seamers ever so even if we weigh the formats equally, cummins is a better player and a world class captain to boot.
Click to expand...
Tests cannot be weighted more than it already has been.
 
ElRaja said:
just realissed theres no graeme smith or AB De Villiers on the list, there is no way gayle, jayawardene, sehwag are better than those two, and theres no way AB deserves to be in the top 7 with his rubbish T20I record. graeme smith is arguably the most balanced odi and test opener in that era, and one of the greatest captains to boot, how on earth does he not make it in there.
Click to expand...

You are misremembering Smith the ODI opener. He was very average during his career especially in terms of strike. There are a dozen guys who were better.


stats.espncricinfo.com

Batting records | One-Day Internationals | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo.com

stats.espncricinfo.com stats.espncricinfo.com
 
Bhaijaan's Greatest 20 International cricketers since 1990 :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Shane Warne
3. Brian Lara
4. Wasim Akram
5. Mutiah Muralithran
6. Jasprit Bumrah
7. Ricky Ponting
8. Dale Steyn
9. Virat Kohli
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. AB de Villiers
12. Waqar Younis
13. Allan Donald
14. Inzamam ul Haq
15. Jaq Kallis
16. R.Ashwin
17. Kumar Sangakkara
18. Shoaib Akhtar
19. Steve Smith
20. Joe Root
 
ElRaja said:
just realissed theres no graeme smith or AB De Villiers on the list, there is no way gayle, jayawardene, sehwag are better than those two, and theres no way AB deserves to be in the top 7 with his rubbish T20I record. graeme smith is arguably the most balanced odi and test opener in that era, and one of the greatest captains to boot, how on earth does he not make it in there.
Click to expand...

Wasn't Graeme Smith a failure in indian conditions ?
 
RexRex said:
Wasn't Graeme Smith a failure in indian conditions ?
Click to expand...
his test stats are better than ben stokes stats in pak and uae, better than williamsons stats in ind, sl, eng and sa, etc, its pointless nitpicking like that, everyone has some weakness.
 
ElRaja said:
his test stats are better than ben stokes stats in pak and uae, better than williamsons stats in ind, sl, eng and sa, etc, its pointless nitpicking like that, everyone has some weakness.
Click to expand...

How is Greamy better than Inzy bhai?

By what metric
 
Bhaijaan said:
Bhaijaan's Greatest 20 International cricketers since 1990 :-


1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Shane Warne
3. Brian Lara
4. Wasim Akram
5. Mutiah Muralithran
6. Jasprit Bumrah
7. Ricky Ponting
8. Dale Steyn
9. Virat Kohli
10. Curtly Ambrose
11. AB de Villiers
12. Waqar Younis
13. Allan Donald
14. Inzamam ul Haq
15. Jaq Kallis
16. R.Ashwin
17. Kumar Sangakkara
18. Shoaib Akhtar
19. Steve Smith
20. Joe Root
Click to expand...
No Glenn McGrath sir?, he should in top 5, if not top 3 in terms of his achievements as a cricketer
 
shaz619 said:
Not too far away from Sachin’s Batting Average in the 4th innings or number of hundreds for that matter
Click to expand...

Yes - Sachin's 4th innings average (36.93) is similar to Babar Azam (35.39), as well as Brian Lara (35.12), Inzamam (37.69) and Steve Smith (31.65).

Babar is in good company.
 
Best Pakistani cricketers of the century :-

Inzamam ul Haq
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Yousuf
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Amir
Abdul Razzaq
Mohammad Asif
Babar Azam
Shoaib Malik
Shadab Khan
 
Bhaijaan said:
Best Pakistani cricketers of the century :-

Inzamam ul Haq
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Yousuf
Saeed Ajmal
Mohammad Amir
Abdul Razzaq
Mohammad Asif
Babar Azam
Shoaib Malik
Shadab Khan
Click to expand...

Younis?
 
Smith is a great Test player but an okay LOI batter. His ODI record is fine but his T20I record is poor. Root is definitely a better LOI player than smith and their Test records aren't that far apart from each other. Same with Graeme Smith, a great Test opener but an okay ODI batter whose record against most of the top teams was poor in that format.
 
giri26 said:
Smith is a great Test player but an okay LOI batter. His ODI record is fine but his T20I record is poor. Root is definitely a better LOI player than smith and their Test records aren't that far apart from each other. Same with Graeme Smith, a great Test opener but an okay ODI batter whose record against most of the top teams was poor in that format.
Click to expand...
This makes all format lists problematic.

Probably best to have seperate list for each format and based on who appears on what list then we can decide who is the best all format player.

In more recent modern era the best all format player imo is Virat Kohli. If you make a list of top 25 players in each format he will be in all the lists.
 
Who will be the top five greatest international cricketers of the century?​


For the past two weeks ESPNcricinfo has been counting down the 25 greatest international cricketers the 21st century has produced, and the top five will be revealed at an event in Mumbai this evening.

The list of 25 was picked via voting by a jury of eminent cricket names, among them Ravi Shastri, Matthew Hayden, Andy Flower, Greg Chappell, Eoin Morgan and Wasim Akram.

Individual awards for the greatest women's cricketer, greatest T20 batter and greatest T20 bowler will also be presented on the night.

The list so far has covered positions 25 (R Ashwin) through six (AB de Villiers), a roster that spans generations, formats and continents. Some of the most dominant and destructive batters of the age have featured- Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle; the leading Test wicket-taker of them all, James Anderson, and his new-ball partner Stuart Broad, who between them claimed 1838 international wickets; two members of the formidable current Australian pace attack; and a couple of generational talents from South Africa, de Villiers and Dale Steyn.

India and England lead the way so far, with five representatives each on the list between Nos. 6 and 25, ahead of Australia (four).

Batters dominate the list, as they have the 21st century: 12 of the 20 names revealed so far are primarily batters, against seven frontline bowlers.

Three wicketkeeper-batters feature on the list, Gilchrist, MS Dhoni and Kumar Sangakkara, all prolific behind the stumps and in front of them.

Six players in the bottom 20 are currently active: Joe Root, the second-highest Test run-scorer of all time; Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Steven Smith from the current ODI world champion Australian side; Kane Williamson; and Jasprit Bumrah, perhaps the most complete all-format bowler of the modern era.

The jury's top five international cricketers of the 21st century, best batter, best bowler, and best all-round cricketer, will be announced at the Cricinfo Honours ceremony, and on ESPNcricinfo, on the evening of May 30, India time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link: https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/...y-who-will-be-the-top-five-cricketers-1538781​
 
Hitman said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2060767145370534209

https://twitter.com/x/status/2060766328315896223

https://twitter.com/x/status/2060761239131967571

https://twitter.com/x/status/2060749347546128631

https://twitter.com/x/status/2060750467966415305
Click to expand...


Greatest batter - Obvious and well deserved

Greatest bowler - Can’t complain. The record is phenomenal even though the popularity and acceptance isn’t at par with some other bowlers

Greatest Allrounder - It was obvious

Greatest T20 batter - On the basis of IPL? Virat has done better in ICC tournaments

Greatest T20 bowler - Not his best format so acceptance might not be there but back to back T20 world cups is hard to go against so we understand.
 
ElRaja said:
smith and root at 10 and 9 respectively is mad, in an era where bilaterals mean nothing in white ball cricket to denegrate the two best test batters of this generation is mad disrespectful, and its not like root has a poor odi record either.

ms dhoni and chris gayle higher than pat cummins? that says everything, an IPL list for IPL fan boys. cricinfo lost its integrity ages ago. format mixing is a curse, and any stats or list that try to equate test cricket to the other formats in anyway makes a mockery of the game and abuses the ignorance of the casual fan who thinks test cricket and t20 are the same sport.
Click to expand...
Im going to go out and say Root is an underrated bat in t20s as well, that one t20 WC held in India can’t remember the edition, think it was 2019 or something? Not sure there’s so many…

But anyway he was a true team player in that one attacking from the word go many a times from what I recall, far from a one trick pony.
 
shaz619 said:
Not too far away from Sachin’s Batting Average in the 4th innings or number of hundreds for that matter
Click to expand...
Only because of the pancake Pindi pitches whoch stay same for 5 days. On thsse pitches achin and Smith would average 70 im 4th innings
 
Sachin fan said:
Only because of the pancake Pindi pitches whoch stay same for 5 days. On thsse pitches achin and Smith would average 70 im 4th innings
Click to expand...
There's a big reason why he never, ever makes it to any such prestigious lists prepared by any credible people in the game.
 
Kallis has been ranked greatest cricketer of last 25 years by ESPNCricinfo

Sachin at #2


🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
So, Endians spent all that money, all that manipulation, all that corruption, leaving out Brian Lara, all for having Sachin ranked #2 and Kallis at #1

The irony of it 🤣🤣🤣
 
The way Bumrah defended 30 of 30 on a good pitch in West Indies 2024 WC final. Bumrah over Gul anyday. He has done such stuff on multiple occasions
 
AAli98 said:
What a dreadful list.

The 2 greatest are Warne & Akram who are dead certs in everyone’s world xi rest are debatable.
Click to expand...

It’s for this century, Wasim retired in 2003 and Warnie in 2007. They will be in the all time list since cricket began.
 
Bhaijaan said:
So, Endians spent all that money, all that manipulation, all that corruption, leaving out Brian Lara, all for having Sachin ranked #2 and Kallis at #1

The irony of it 🤣🤣🤣
Click to expand...

Lara retired in 2007. Just like Wasim and Warnie, Lara will be in all time cricketers list.

Lara is top 3 batters of all time, alongside Sachin and Viv.
 
big_gamer007 said:
Lara retired in 2007. Just like Wasim and Warnie, Lara will be in all time cricketers list.

Lara is top 3 batters of all time, alongside Sachin and Viv.
Click to expand...

Check Lara’s record in 2000s he was devastating. He did more in those 7 years than many of the 25 players mentioned. I’m not evening talking about omitting him from Top 5, but omitting him from 25 was a convenient way the Cricinfo tried to eliminate Sachin’s competition. Based on 25 years record, even Tendulkar doesn’t beat Virat Kohli.
 
The panel had to invent the test all rounder award to move Kallis out the way and give Tendulkar an award. Kallis was the best batsman in that era. Tendulkar is behind many, including Root and Smith, Ponting, Sangakara and Kallis, who have all outscored him and out averaged him this century.
 
Major said:
Seriously Bumrah over Umar Gul in t20?
Lol
Click to expand...
Bumrah is playing in much tougher era where T20 batsmans are much more brutal and refined and in these flatbeds. Still he has stats better than Gul. There is not even a doubt about Bumrah as a T20i bowler.
 
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