Top 10 Best All Rounder In The World Of Cricket

In the realm of cricket, where the pitch comes alive with every bowled delivery and the crack of the bat sends ripples of excitement, a unique and versatile figure emerges—the all-rounder. Imagine a player who seamlessly weaves the art of batting and the craft of bowling into a single tapestry of brilliance. During IPL 2020, Nitish Rana, a batsman from KKR, outwitted both RCB skipper Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, sparking a pivotal shift in the match’s momentum. This underscores the notion that contemporary cricketers are increasingly showcasing all-rounder capabilities to some degree. That’s how cricket has evolved nowadays, it’s the all-rounder’s game pretty much. The value provided by an all-rounder in any format of the game is priceless. Every team craves a top-quality all-rounder who can win matches with the ball and bat which makes them the rarest breed out of all roles in cricket. Here we rank the all-time top 10 best all-rounder in the world of all time who have donned their respective eras in cricket history.

10 Best All-Rounders of All Time In Cricket History

Best All Rounder In The World: Shakib Al Hasan

Best all-rounder in cricket: Unarguably, the greatest player to ever play for the Bangladesh Cricket team. Shakib Al Hasan has no competition within his nation in terms of stats or legacy. He is one of the most consistent all-rounders in world cricket who secured his place at the top of the ICC All-rounders ranking in ODIs for a long time. He also became the No.1 Test and T20I all-rounder multiple times. Making his international debut in the year of 2006, Shakib has more than 14000 international runs and above 600 wickets for Bangladesh. He led Bangladesh in all three formats and played a huge role in the improvement of Bangladesh cricket. But what makes him even better is his performance in the IPL. The left-arm spin all-rounder was a vital part of the KKR franchise during their reign in 2012 and 2014. Still, at the age of 36, he is rightly one of the best all rounder in the world.

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Best All-Rounder In The World: Shaun Pollock

World no 1 all rounder: South Africa is one of the top producers of world-class all-rounders and Shaun Pollock is one of the best among the bests. The right-arm fast bowling all-rounder was more dangerous with the ball than a 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 destroyed 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 and 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.  

Best All Rounder In The World: Andrew Flintoff

Best all rounder in cricket: 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.

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Best All Rounder In The World: Sanath Jayasuriya

Best all rounder in cricket: 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 does not just make runs; he makes them quick. Since naming him the MVP of the 1996 World Cup, he switched his gears to change as a monster with the cricket 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. 

Best All Rounder In The World: Sir Richard Hadlee

Best all rounder in cricket: There was a time in history when Richard Hadlee was a common nightmare for batsmen. A tall physical bowling all-rounder who can generate extraordinary pace, bounce, and swing in any condition 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.

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Best All Rounder In The World: 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. 

World no 1 all rounder: Ian Botham

A real-life superstar; Ian Botham was just that for the English fans. He was such a player who inspires the viewers and showed how an individual alone can win a team sport like cricket. The greatest comeback of Sir Ian Botham was when he got a pair at Lord’s and gave up captaincy before going to Headingley in 1981. He returned to form finely by taking 6 wickets and 50 runs in the first innings and scoring a 149* in the second innings. This is just one of those matches Ian Botham single-handedly won for England. The right-arm batting all-rounder has more than 7000 international runs and 500 wickets in his heroic career. 

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Imran Khan

The former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan is third on our list of the all-rounders. He led Pakistan’s golden generation to World Cup glory in 1992 which was his last appearance on the grand stage. His combination with Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram was deadly. Imran Khan had everything, a complete cricketing career in which he took more than 500 international wickets and 7000 runs as a middle-order best batsman, almost every individual and team achievement also as a captain, and a respectable persona outside the cricketing community. 

Sir Garry Sobers

A gem of an all-rounder. You can’t describe what Garry Sobers was for the West Indies more than what Sir Donald Bradman said; a five-in-one cricketer. A batsman of rare talent and consistency, a left-arm fast-medium bowler who could spin and swing the ball. On the field, he was a Superman, astoundingly agile and fast, and like a cherry on the top, an influential captain. A staggering batting average of 57.78 and a record-high score of 365 made him comparable even to Bradman. Cricket might never see a more complete player than Gary Sobers.

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Jacques Kallis

More than 10000 runs and 250 wickets in both Test and ODI format, 338 catches, and the highest number of 23 Man of the Match awards in Test Cricket. Jacques Kallis was the real Goliath. He set the benchmark for all-rounders so high that the batting and bowling stats are similar to a full-fledged batsman and bowler. Can you imagine a player retiring from tests with a batting average of around 55 and a bowling average of 32.65?

An illustrious 19-year career from 1995 to 2014 placed him above any all-rounders to ever play the game. Some former players including Kevin Pietersen mentioned Kallis as the greatest cricketer of all time. He had a very good T20I career and a few stellar IPL seasons as well. Kallis was also one of the humblest personalities who became a typical example of exhibiting pure sportsmanship throughout his career.

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