Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni among five Indians in Robin Uthappa’s ODI XI of the Decade

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni among five Indians: The veteran Indian cricketer put forward an interesting ODI Playing XI.

Given the advent of the new year 2020, numerous cricketers and sports channels/websites have put forward their Test/ODI team of the decade 2010-2019. Among one of them is veteran India batsman Robin Uthappa who has included as many as five cricketers in his ODI XI of the decade.

Five out of Uthappa’s Playing XI are Indian cricketers in veteran wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captain Virat Kohli, limited-over vice-captain Rohit Sharma, former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and pacer Zaheer Khan.

As far as the players from other countries are concerned, Uthappa’s ODI XI of the decade encompasses one player each from West Indies, Australia, South Africa England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni among five Indians in Robin Uthappa’s ODI XI of the Decade

The interesting and unique combination comprises of Sharma and Universe Boss Chris Gayle at the top of the order. While Sharma is arguably the best opening batsman in limited-overs cricket at the moment, Gayle wasn’t an active ODI player throughout the decade.

In 96 ODIs that he played in this decade, the southpaw scored 3,051 runs at an average of 33.52 and a strike rate of 99.15 including six centuries and 15 half-centuries.

Finding the name of Kohli in this list is no big surprise especially after witnessing all that he has done in the last few years at the highest level.

Another intriguing selection by Uthappa is that of Australia batsman Steve Smith. Easily among the top batsmen in Test cricket, Smith scoring 3,810 runs in 118 ODIs at an average of 41.41 and a strike rate of 46.31 doesn’t see him dominating the format.

Apart from former South Africa captain AB de Villiers, Uthappa has also added former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and veteran wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni.

Much like Gayle and Smith, Yuvraj hasn’t dominated ODIs like the other formats in this decade. In 59 ODIs in this decade, Yuvraj has scored 1,452 runs at an average of 33 and a strike rate of 81.43.

Among the bowlers, Uthappa has included three pace-bowling options in England all-rounder Ben Stokes, veteran Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga and former India pacer Zaheer Khan. Former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is the lone spinner in the side.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni among five Indians in Robin Uthappa’s ODI XI of the Decade – 1) Rohit Sharma 2) Chris Gayle 3) Virat Kohli 4) Steve Smith 5) AB de Villiers 6) Yuvraj Singh 7) MS Dhoni (c & wk) 8) Ben Stokes 9) Daniel Vettori 10) Zaheer Khan 11) Lasith Malinga