Best ODI XI of the decade among retired players

The decade of 2010s is coming to an end. ODI cricket has gone through various changes and the players have changed too. In fact, a total of 1084 players played ODI cricket in this decade and not everyone has made it through.

There are numerous cricketers who hung up their boots this decade and called it quits either solely from ODI format or from all formats. The big stars like Ricky Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Jacques Kallis and hundreds of other big cricketers bid adieu to the game. But those retired players have played a vital part in ODI cricket in the 2010s-decade.

Hence, with the decade coming to a close in a couple of days, we look back at the best ODI XI among the players who retired from the 50-overs format:

1. Hashim Amla

There was a point when Hashim Amla was rated among the best ODI batsmen in world cricket. He wasn’t talked about much but the South African opener kept churning out runs. In fact, Amla was the fastest to 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 ODI runs in terms of innings. There was a trend. Virat Kohli set the record for most of those and Amla kept breaking those records.

Amla scored 7265 runs at an average of 49.76 in this 2010s-decade. Moreover, 26 out of his 27 ODI tons and 33 out of his 41 half-centuries in ODI cricket came in this decade. The Durban-born cricketer was the heart of South Africa’s team and performed consistently.

After a mediocre year in international cricket in 2019, Amla decided to hang up in August earlier this year. However, he continues to play domestic cricket in South Africa and is going the Kolpak way as he has signed a deal with Surrey.