Flop ODI XI of the year 2021

The year 2021 has not been a usual cricketing year, as the number of One Day International matches played was very less. The sole reason for this is the other mega fixtures this year such as the T20 World Cup and World Test Championship.

The teams were looking to build their Best XI for the T20 World Cup and hence did not give much attention to the One Day International fixtures. Owing to the very few ODI matches played this year, the cricketers didn’t get much time to adapt to this format. Hence with the small sample size of ODI matches in this season, let us look at the players who failed to capitalize their chances in this format.

Flop ODI XI of 2021

1. Jos Buttler (Captain and Wicketkeeper)

The English explosive wicketkeeping batter Jos Buttler is the captain and the opening batter of the Flop ODI XI this year. He is a superstar in the shortest format of the game and is an integral player of the England team in all the colours.

The Englishman was their team’s star player in the T20 World Cup and scored his maiden century there. But it has not been in the case of ODI’s.

The 31-year-old player has only played three ODI matches this year and has struggled with his batting form. He couldn’t get past 15 runs and has got out for just one run and a duck in the other matches and hence his tally in the ODI has ended with just 17 runs.

2. Sam Billings

Another English wicketkeeping batter who partners Jos Buttler on this list is Sam Billings. He is not a regular member of the team and has always been a backup wicketkeeper in the squad since he hasn’t proved much to replace his allies, Jos Butler or Jonny Bairstow.

But something which Sam Billings attracts is his acrobatic keeping skills and his fearless approach to the bowling attack as he is a clean shot maker. He was trusted by the board and they had high hopes of developing this player for the future.

But his proneness to injuries and lack of consistency made him miss out on many matches. In this year, he has played just four ODI’s post his injury and found it very difficult to score runs. His ODI calendar year ended just with 21 runs in two batting innings.

3. Mitchell Marsh

The T20 World Cup hero of Australia Mitchell Marsh did not have his best time in the One Day Internationals. The All-rounder is a hard-hitting middle-order batter and a quick pacer. He was promoted up the order but did not provide his best in ODI’s this year.

The Under-19 World Cup-winning captain debuted into the ODI side in 2011 and has always been a visiting player in the squad. His inconsistency with the bat overtook his hard-hitting abilities and his good bowling skills.

2016 was his best ODI year as he averaged 42.80 with his bat and contrarily in 2021, he just scored 57 runs in three innings. He just averaged 19 and had a strike rate of 95. In his short cameo in bowling six overs, he only managed to pick a wicket.

4. Soumya Sarkar

Soumya Sarkar, the Bangladeshi all-rounder features on this list for his poor run in the 2021 ODI season. He is an experienced Bangladesh campaigner who debuted in 2014. The player was a sensation to their team at a very young age.

Sarkar is a flexible batter who could bat at any order, fight from opening, and can bowl some handy overs with the ball. He has played 61 ODI’s over the timeline and has hit 1768 runs with a decent average of 32.14. However, this year has not bestowed him many runs or wickets to his statistics.

In six ODI matches he played this year, he only has hit 40 runs with his highest as 32 and has added a duck in his tally this year.  In his short tenure of 12.4 overs as a bowler, he has just taken two wickets giving away 71 runs.

5. Heinrich Klaasen

Heinrich Klaasen of South Africa is in the position of the fifth flop this year. He is a limited-overs wicketkeeping-batter of the team and did not have a fruitful year.

The 30-year-old player is only used in the absence of the regular Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton De Kock. Though he gets only a few chances, he is not able to capitalize on it to cement his spot in the eleven. Quinton was ruled out of the ODI matches in Sri Lanka and hence Klaasen was roped in as the keeper.

But in his seven ODI outings this year, he has just managed to score 120 runs which average around 17 and his strike rate of below 90 establishes his poor form in this season. This poor form and the availability of other keepers could endanger his position in the future.

6. Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya is the perfect modern-day cricketer. The 28-year-old can strike the ball big, roll his arm over decently, and is a livewire in the field. It is a combination of skills that India has long waited for since the retirement of Kapil Dev.

Pandya sustained a back fracture injury and then operated on it in 2020. Since then, his frequency in the bowling department has drastically come down, and wasn’t seen at his usual rhythm and so was his performance.

He played six ODI’s this year scoring just 119 runs with the bat which includes a half-century and a duck. With the ball, he only has bowled 23 overs and has dismissed two batters, and has given average runs of 6.30 per over. His lack of performance has surely affected the Indian team’s balance.

7. Mohammad Nabi

This year has witnessed a lot of players who have done well in T20Is but have not excelled anywhere near in ODIs. One such player is Mohammad Nabi, the stalwart of the Afghanistan team. The all-rounder has been a part of the ODI squad since 2009.

His batting and bowling performances have aided the team many times in their victory over the years. But this year has been different as he has not contributed much to the victory. His form in the 50 overs format is less impressive.

The 36-year-old player featured in just three matches and has hit 35 runs with an average of 17.50 which is his year-wise least. His strike rate also plummeted from 70.96 in 2020 to 57.37 in 2021. With just two wickets in 30 overs added to his career stats, he ends this year.

8. Kuldeep Yadav

It is indeed disappointing to see one of the highly spoken spinning stars of India Kuldeep Yadav to be on this list. But it has been because of this player’s decline in wickets and gradually dismal economies. He was expected to provide the best for India as he was so impressive in his amateur career itself.

Kuldeep in his first three years picked 99 wickets in 56 matches with his best average of 17.77. But his performances slowly dwindled in these two years. He was then dropped from the main squad in 2020 and couldn’t participate much that year.

This Chinaman bowler played only four ODIs this year and claimed just two wickets with his worst average and economy of 127.50 and 6.71 respectively. He was expected to excel with experience, but unfortunately, it has been contrary in his case.

9. Adil Rashid

Adil Rashid, the leggie from England has been a consistent member of the limited-overs side since 2015. He was also the key player in England winning the 2019’s World Cup and had a decent form in 2020 too.

But like a curse to the players on the list, Adil Rashid has also underperformed this year. He has played six ODI matches this year and has managed to dismiss only four batters and his bowling average has risen to his all-time high of 85.50.

In the year 2020, when we compare around the same number of matches, Rashid had taken 12 wickets in seven matches. But this year, his lack of form is evident from his stats. His year-wise economy also has hiked to an all-time high of 6.45.

10. Lungi Ngidi

South Africa’s ace seamer Lungisani Ngidi happens to fall under this bracket this year. South Africa is famous for producing fast bowlers and Ngidi is one of them. He is an amazing tall-fast bowler, who could bowl accurately at consistent speeds and lengths.

The Proteas bowler is well-known for his Yorkers and bouncers. In just playing four matches in 2020, he picked 12 wickets with an economy of 5.67 and he also recorded his career-best of 6/58. He was expected to continue his terrific form from 2020 to this year too but he didn’t carry forward the momentum.

Ngidi just played three matches and missed the rest due to personal reasons. In 27 overs he bowled, he just earned a solo wicket and his economy was 6.07 – his year-wise least. His average rose to his least of 164.00 from his career-best of 16.08 in 2020.

11. Chamika Karunaratne

Chamika Karunaratne, the Sri Lankan right-arm-medium-fast bowler debuted in the limited-overs format this year. After having a good first-class career, he was roped into the squad to make his debut this year.

Sri Lanka has played more ODIs as compared to the other teams this year and this has provided a good amount of opportunity to the debutant.

The 25-year-old youngster got 10 matches to feature in the ODI side and did not have a dreamy debut year. He just claimed six wickets with an average of 36.00. But in contrast to his role, he has better stats with his bat.