Current luckiest XI in ODI cricket

Cricket is one of the sports that has been recognized by fans globally. The sport enthralls its audience with three formats including ODIs, Tests and the latest one on the list is T20Is. However, when a player starts playing the ‘gentlemen’s game’, his major aim is to play in the longer format as well as in ODIs. Any player works all his life to fulfill his dream to don the national jersey for once in his life. The advancement in the game has given a new face to the competition where several players are hustling out hard to get their spot among the team of those eleven players. Sometimes, players get successful and some end their career playing in the domestic circuit of their country. There is no doubt over the fact that a player needs luck along with the talent to sustain his career as a cricketer. He has to be on his toes while performing to his best to attract the sight of the selectors. There have been several stories in the past involving many talented players, who were capable of playing in ODI format, ended up playing only for their domestic teams. On the other hand, there are cricketers– who are considered quite lucky to be one of those millions– got their shot to the national team. Moreover, they were offered ample chances to prove their worth in the team. At the moment, the competitiveness in cricket is at its peak as the sport is filled with the crème of talented cricketers aiming to break into the national side. Hence, let’s list out the luckiest current ODI playing XI: 1. Fakhar Zaman Fakhar Zaman (Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Fakhar Zaman, the left-handed opener is quite lucky to play for Pakistan in ODI format due to his past performances with the bat. He has poorly flopped to perform with the bat in the overseas condition for his team. In the year 2019, he muscled only 683 runs in 20 games with only five fifties and one ton. He got dismissed on single-figure scores on seven occasions. However, he has still managed to get strong backing from team management. Even, he failed in the mega event in which he could only score 186 runs in eight games at an average of 23.25. Though his average of 49.2 after 50 ODIs look good, the southpaw is not as consistent. Also, there are many talented cricketers in the domestic circuit of Pakistan, who can do better than Fakhar Zaman but due to a stroke of luck, he is getting ample opportunities to prove his mantle as an ODI cricketer. PCB and management have been brought under the scanner on numerous occasions for the same. However, they have given a tough statement to stick with Fakhar Zaman going into the future. 2. Shikhar Dhawan Shikhar Dhawan(Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) India is one of those countries that follows cricket quite religiously. So, is the uprooting cricketers, who hustle day-in and day-out to get one chance to play for Team India in the ODI format. Meanwhile, there is Shikhar Dhawan, who is not left with more than two years as an international cricketer, also tops the list as one of the luckiest players. The performance graph of the 35-year-old opener has certainly dipped as he has failed to perform well with the bat for Team India in away conditions. He is finding lots of difficulties to score runs and click good knocks with the bat in a consistent fashion. However, his reputation in ICC tournament has always saved him from getting axed from the team. His overall career average is around 45.14 but in the year it was dropped to 36.44 tells everything about Dhawan’s poor form. There have been voices hovering around that he should be dropped from the national side but the team management only leaves him out of the team if he is unavailable due to injury. 3. Liton Das Liton Das. (Photo by Frikkie Kapp/Gallo Images/Getty Images) Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das is going through possibly his worst phase at the moment. He hasn’t been able to get even the starts in the ODI format and ever since the game is being played in the bio-bubble, the right-hander hasn’t been amongst the runs. Recently, even in the series against Sri Lanka, Das was dropped after the first two matches. BCB Chief Nazmul Hassan wasn’t happy with him as well. He also felt that the talented cricketer should bat in the middle-order in the ODI format for Bangladesh. Liton Das averages only 28.8 after playing 44 ODIs having mustered only 1180 runs. One has to stay he is lucky enough to stay in the squad despite these poor performances in the 50-over format. 4. David Miller David Miller (Photo credit should read ANESH DEBIKY/AFP/Getty Images) David Miller, the middle-order batsman from South Africa is quite a clean hitter of the ball. In the early phase of the career, he was looked down as one of the most prolific batters in ODI, who had the ability to single-handedly change the outcome of the match. But suddenly, his willow stopped smoking runs. For Miller, 2019 didn’t go well as he struggled to get one fifty throughout the year in the 50-over format but he failed. The 30-year-old managed to score only 274 runs in 10 innings with a best of 41* in the concluded year. His struggle to score runs was quite visible on the field. And there are still questions raised over the presence of Miller, who is not able to contribute for his side. There is no doubt about the fact that if he continues to perform in the same fashion, he will soon get axed from the squad. But currently, that time looks quite far as the management is stern over their stand to play Miller that makes him lucky to be part of an ODI team as far as his form his concerned. 5. Ashton Turner Ashton Turner. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) Ashton Turner, the right-handed middle-order batsman is an electrifying cricketer, who earned a reputation of a match-winner in the domestic circuit. In 2020, he was drafted in the ODI squad of Australia with some big hopes on their tour to India for their five-match series. It was a surprising decision taken by Aussie selectors as they picked him ahead of the players like Mitchell Marsh, who has proved his worth in the last couple of years playing for the national team. Later on, Turner failed to perform with the bat, who scored only one knock of 84* runs for his team and got dismissed for a score of 21 or below in the other four games due to which Australia had to suffer a series defeat against the Men in Blue. However, the selectors have had enough with him now as he is not the part of the squad named for the upcoming West Indies tour. 6. James Neesham James Neesham. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images) James Neesham, the seaming all-rounder is one of the most talked-about players in world cricket due to his witty presence on social media. The left-handed cricketer is a decent all-rounder but Neesham hasn’t been able to consistently deliver especially in the ODIs. He has registered batting figures of 4, 30, 8, 19 and 3 with only eight wickets in last five ODI games. And, these stats are don’t justify the talent he possesses. Many fans have also raised their voices in order to replace him with some other player. But, the captain and team management still have faith in his abilities to perform well in the near future. Neesham’s inconsistency with the ball and bat are a major problem. Lack of quality pace-bowling all-rounders could be one of the reasons for New Zealand to stick with him as well. 7. Colin de Grandhomme Colin de Grandhomme (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images) Colin de Grandhomme is quite a similar all-rounder to James Neesham, who can deliver medium pace bowling and score crucial runs down the order. But again, it is the consistency that he lacks. His pace doesn’t disturb many batsmen and only if conditions are a bit helpful, De Grandhomme could be handy with the ball like he was in 2019 WC Final. He made his debut back in 2012 but there is still no clarity over his role in the 50-over team of New Zealand. In all the cases, his stats of four fifties with 722 runs and 27 wickets in 42 games don’t justify his talent either. As an international player, the year 2019 didn’t turn out to be the best for him as he only amassed 241 runs with only 11 wickets for his team. Colin de Grandhomme could deem himself lucky enough to be picked and the all-rounder should make the most of his chances sooner rather than later. 8. Shadab Khan Shadab Khan. (Photo Source: Getty Images) Shadab Khan, the legspinner from Pakistan has started turning pale by losing his ability to turn the ball. He made his ODI debut back in 2017 against West Indies. Khan got off to a great start donning the Green jersey as he grabbed 19 wickets in his first 12 games at an economy of 4.99. Now, his graph of performance is moving downwards, who grabbed 12 wickets in last 12 matches with an increased economy. Moreover, he has been losing his ability to disturb opponent batsmen and it has been long that he had produced a breakthrough performance for his side with the ball. It’s been almost eight months since he took his last three-wicket haul for the Men in Green. There are several big names waiting in the domestic ranks of Pakistan for their chance. However, it doesn’t matter to the board, who are reluctant to go with their preferred player in ODIs without giving any chance to the other spinners. It is sheer luck that he is currently playing for Pakistan in the 50-over format. Otherwise, he would have been dropped from the team long ago. 9. Mahmudullah Mahmudullah of Bangladesh. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images) Mahmudullah, the right-handed spin all-rounder from Bangladesh is an exciting player and his game is quite suitable for the shorter format where he gets the liberty to express himself with the bat. Later on, he plays a vital role with the ball for Tigers. But, ODI format is a totally a different cup of tea where he is still to cement his place as a reorganized all-rounder. In One Day Internationals, players are expected to show their calmness while batting and try to take the game deep. But, Mahmudullah has so far failed to do that as an experienced player. His inconsistency with the bat is a major problem that makes him an easy contender to be dropped out from the team. In 2019, he miserably failed as an all-rounder after scoring only 357 runs in 15 innings. Furthermore, he could only manage to take one wicket in his total 14 overs at a poor average of 106. If Mahmudullah was playing for any country, then until now he would have been probably dropped from the national side. In the end, his luck has played a vital role as Bangladesh Cricket Board still feels that he is the best spin all-rounder in their country due to which they have not ruled him out from the team. 10. Tim Southee Tim Southee (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) Tim Southee, the right-handed pacer from New Zealand has been struggling with his poor form since long. There is no question over his ability as a fast bowler, he has achieved a lot playing for his national side. But, in the last couple of years, he has lost the rhythm as well as pace in his bowling. Once he used to threaten batsmen and deceive them with his brilliant swing bowling. Now, the says have changed as the batters easily pick his length to smack him across the park. It is his previous performances for New Zealand due to which he is still looked down as the premium pacer alongside Trent Boult in the ODIs. Otherwise, his international career might have got shortened a year ago. In the year 2019, he grabbed nine wickets in five games at an expensive economy of 7.10. Moreover, there is not much time left for him to mark his comeback in his prime before his fallout from the national side. 11. Mashrafe Mortaza Mashrafe Bin Mortaza. (Photo by Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images) Mashrafe Mortaza, the veteran fast bowler from Bangladesh is moving in the fag end of his career. His body is not able to sustain the pressure and hard work of international cricket anymore. Meanwhile, BCB doesn’t think the same, who are yet to move forward from their all-time best fast bowler. He is still used as their strike bowler in important tournament and series, although he is not a regular face of the team. It is very rare to watch these type of things in international cricket. In fact, he is quite lucky to have such a strong backing from his cricket board, who value his contribution for Bangladesh. In an overall career of 220 ODIs, he has managed to grab 270 wickets for his national team. However, there are speculations that he might soon bid adieu to international cricket.

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Current luckiest XI in ODI cricket

There is no doubt over the fact that a player needs luck along with the talent to sustain his career as a cricketer.

11. Mashrafe Mortaza

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