Over the years, world cricket has seen some of the greatest all-rounders of all-time. To name a few, cricketers like Sir Garfield Sobers, Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, and Imran Khan have inspired millions. The legacy of such ultimate all-rounders was very well carried by the likes of Shaun Pollock, Jacques Kallis, Andrew Flintoff, Shane Watson and Andre Russell. These all-rounders have won plenty of matches for their respective teams simply by their stunning performances with the bat and ball.
But who will fit as the best in the business in different formats of the captivating game? Well, former Australian cricketer, Tom Moody has the answer. Moody has been a coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) – an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. Under his guidance, SRH won the 2016 IPL trophy.
Apart from SRH, Moody has been associated with several other teams so one can say that he is a keen observer of the game. Recently, Moody participated in the ‘Pitch Side Experts’ podcast hosted by former West Indies great Ian Bishop. During the conversation, Moody revealed his top three all-rounders in formats of the game.
Tests – Jacques Kallis, Gary Sobers and Imran Khan
Starting with the longest format of the game, Moody picked Sobers, Imran and Kallis as the best three all-rounders. Moody said that former Pakistani skipper Imran was a phenomenal cricketer.
“I find it very hard to go past Imran Khan. What he did was quite phenomenal. I played against him towards the end of his career. I remember speaking to people that played him in the early and middle parts of his career, and they said he was genuinely quick,” said Moody.
T20Is – Andre Russell, Shane Watson, Shahid Afridi
In T20Is, Moody selected West Indies superstar Andre Russell, former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi.
“I am going Russell, Watson and Afridi in that order. Afridi over the last 12 or 14 years as an all-rounder has been nothing short of brilliant. He was a match-winner with both bat and ball, and he has done it consistently,” added Moody.
Moody rated Afridi as a complete match-winner.
“We have to remember the Afridi of the past, not the Afridi today when he was in his sweet spot, which was for a long period when he was playing the highest quality cricket of his career,” Moody added further.
ODIs – Lance Klusener, Jacques Kallis and Shane Watson
When it comes to ODIs, Moody again went with Kallis and Watson. He also picked Lance Klusener as the third all-rounder. Speaking about Kallis, the South African has played 328 ODIs in his international career, and amassed over 11,000 runs. He earned 273 wickets as well.
Watson, on the other hand, accumulated 5757 runs and picked up 168 wickets in 190 ODI games. When it comes to Klusener, then in 171 matches, Klusener smashed over 3,000 runs and scalped 192 wickets.
