Best ODI All-Rounders: Current Rankings & All-Time Greats

The greatest one-day sides have always revolved around their all-rounders. They stitch innings back together after a top-order wobble. They bowl the overs no one else wants. They glide through the harsh middle overs and still have a say at the death. They hide in plain sight until the decisive moments, then shape the match with bat, ball, or a freakish bit of fielding. When you build an ODI team for sustained success, you start with your all-rounders.

This is a living hub for the best ODI all-rounders right now and the greatest of all time. You’ll see a transparent method, not a hunch; role-based splits that respect how a team actually uses these players; and era context that acknowledges that not every economy rate or strike rate means the same thing across different ODI environments. It’s designed to be revisited—updated monthly with form, injuries, and ICC ranking movement, while the all-time list takes the long view.

How we define an ODI all-rounder, and what ‘best’ really means

An ODI all-rounder is not simply someone who bowls a bit and bats a bit. The modern all-rounder is selected for two disciplines, contributes regularly in wins, and can fill different roles as the game demands. There are bat-dominant all-rounders (think opening batter who bowls, or a No. 4 with 6–8 reliable overs), bowl-dominant all-rounders (first-change pacer or lead spinner who can chase 40 off 30 if required), and balanced all-rounders whose combined output rivals specialists.

‘Best’ is not a single axis. Batting average without strike rate is incomplete. Bowling average without economy is misleading. Context — overs bowled, match situation, opposition, surface — matters. World Cups matter. Peak seasons matter. Longevity matters. This is why a weighted index sits at the heart of our rankings.

Methodology: The All-Rounder Impact Index (ARII)

For current rankings, we use the All-Rounder Impact Index (ARII), updated monthly, which blends production, efficiency, and clutch value over the last two seasons. For all-time rankings, we tilt toward peak windows and World Cup impact, layered over career longevity.

Core rules and thresholds

Current list eligibility: minimum 10 ODIs in the last two seasons and at least 200 runs plus 10 wickets in that window, or 400 runs plus 6 wickets if a team uses you sparingly as a bowler.
All-time list eligibility: minimum 50 ODIs with at least 1000 runs and 50 wickets, or a compelling World Cup peak that bends the rules.
Role classification: batting all-rounder, bowling all-rounder, or balanced. Also tagged by pace/spin and right/left-hand factors.

Components and weights for ARII (current)

Batting Value (35%): era-normalized batting average, strike rate, boundary percentage, and dot-ball avoidance; role-weighted for opener/middle/finisher.
Bowling Value (35%): era-normalized bowling average and economy; strike rate; phase difficulty (powerplay vs middle vs death); overs bowled per innings.
Win Impact (15%): production in wins; share of Player-of-the-Match awards; chasing impact; contributions in tight finishes.
Big-Event/Knockout Bonus (10%): World Cup, Champions Trophy knockouts, Asia Cup knockouts; bonus calibrated to opposition quality.
Fielding and Utility (5%): catching, run-out involvement, role elasticity (can bowl in two phases or bat in two roles).

Components and weights for all-time ARII-Classic

Peak Three-Season Window (45%): best sustained stretch, era-adjusted.
Longevity & Consistency (25%): total matches, repeated contributions, role versatility.
World Cup Impact (20%): performance across editions; clutch matches weighted higher.
Team Context (10%): share of team’s runs and wickets; strength of opposition; surfaces.

Era normalization and conditions

A 4.5 economy means something different in a low-scoring era than in a flat-deck era. We normalize using rolling baselines for batting and bowling for each phase of the innings and venue region (SENA vs subcontinent vs elsewhere). This prevents punishing a Pollock for being economical in a bowler-friendly universe or over-rewarding a modern finisher’s strike rate without context.

What this index is not

It’s not an ICC ranking clone. The ICC list places heavy emphasis on recent bilateral series with a fixed points engine. Ours adds tactical role, match impact, era correction, and World Cup weighting. When both lists agree, you can be confident. When they differ, we show our working.

The No 1 ODI all-rounder right now

Shakib Al Hasan remains the gold standard. Even as formats shift and workloads churn, he sets the tempo with the bat in the middle overs and squeezes games with left-arm orthodox craft. He rarely goes for many. He often bowls the highest-leverage overs against the best batters. And when his team wins, he’s usually stitched a quiet 60 with two wickets and a catch that broke a partnership nobody else could. Whatever the month-to-month ICC table says, the blend of run-making, control, and reliability puts him at the top of a practical ODI all-rounder list right now.

Current top ODI all-rounders (updated monthly)

The table below shows the latest ARII standings from the last two seasons. The batting and bowling numbers are rolling 12-month indicators, rounded to provide a clean signal rather than an illusion of precision. Δ indicates movement since the previous monthly update.

Name	Team	Role	Bat avg/SR (12m)	Bowl avg/Econ (12m)	ARII	Δ
Shakib Al Hasan	Bangladesh	Balanced, spin	41 / 88	29 / 4.6	92	+1
Glenn Maxwell	Australia	Bat-dominant, offspin	45 / 124	31 / 5.4	87	+3
Mitchell Santner	New Zealand	Bowl-dominant, spin	30 / 92	28 / 4.6	85	+2
Sikandar Raza	Zimbabwe	Balanced, spin	48 / 98	28 / 5.0	83	+1
Ravindra Jadeja	India	Bowl-dominant, spin	36 / 90	30 / 4.8	81	0
Mitchell Marsh	Australia	Bat-dominant, pace	52 / 103	35 / 6.0	79	+2
Rachin Ravindra	New Zealand	Bat-dominant, spin	46 / 96	33 / 5.1	77	+4
Marco Jansen	South Africa	Bowl-dominant, pace	27 / 112	26 / 5.8	76	+1
Mehidy Hasan Miraz	Bangladesh	Balanced, spin	35 / 89	30 / 4.7	75	-1
Hardik Pandya	India	Balanced, pace	34 / 103	29 / 5.5	74	+2
Rashid Khan	Afghanistan	Bowl-dominant, spin	25 / 109	25 / 4.3	73	+1
Shadab Khan	Pakistan	Balanced, spin	30 / 94	35 / 5.5	70	-2
Cameron Green	Australia	Balanced, pace	38 / 95	30 / 5.7	69	+2
Mohammad Nabi	Afghanistan	Balanced, spin	33 / 92	34 / 4.5	67	0
Moeen Ali	England	Bat-dominant, spin	31 / 99	36 / 5.6	65	+1

Interpreting the form table

The batting numbers tell you whether someone is a top-order run engine or a finisher with a strike-rate edge; the bowling line says whether they control games through economy or hit you with wickets.
Maxwell’s ARII is driven by unmatched boundary bursts plus enough overs of offspin to balance Australia’s attack. His bowling is often used to break rhythm rather than lead the wicket tally.
Santner’s economy holds New Zealand together on good batting decks. He’s the archetype of a bowl-dominant all-rounder whose batting is undervalued until he finishes a chase with calm singles and a late six.
Raza’s rise is sustained by relentless middle-overs work with the ball, backed by consistent runs against top sides. He’s the under-the-radar benchmark for Associate and emerging full-member sides.
Jansen’s wickets at the top and lower-order hitting give South Africa the fast-bowling all-rounder template they’ve loved since Pollock and Kallis.

All-time top ODI all-rounders: methodology in practice

The all-time list looks different. It prizes peak more heavily. It respects that ODI roles changed: pinch-hitting revolutions, powerplays, field restrictions, two new balls, ball change rules. A balanced all-rounder in one era may be a bowling all-rounder in another.

Below is the ARII-Classic top 25, blending peak-three-season windows, longevity, and World Cup impact. This is where memories and numbers agree more often than not.

Jacques Kallis — South Africa, batting all-rounder, pace
A machine who batted at a run-a-ball long before it was fashionable for anchors, Kallis gave South Africa a guarantee of structure. He often fronted up with the new ball or first change, and you felt safe when he was at the crease with ten overs left. He didn’t spray yorkers at the death; he removed the over-before-the-over. Sustained run-scoring, high standards in big tournaments, and a bowling workload heavier than most remember vault him to the peak.
Imran Khan — Pakistan, bowling all-rounder, pace
More than a force of personality and captaincy, Imran’s ODI bowling was all about upper-order strangulation followed by reverse swing cameos late. Bat in hand, he was a pressure chaser and a partnership builder. His World Cup leadership in Australasia, on surfaces that demanded craft, is deeply woven into this ranking.
Shakib Al Hasan — Bangladesh, balanced all-rounder, spin
A metronome with the ball and a calculator with the bat. He’s anchored chases, rebuilt collapses, and jabbed singles into gaps when others searched for glory shots. His World Cup consistency in England and across Asia lifts his all-time profile: consistent runs, wickets at middling averages, almost never a bad tournament.
Kapil Dev — India, bowling all-rounder, pace
A natural striker of the ball and a bowler who bent games with relentless length. His masterpiece in an English county ground against Zimbabwe — the rescue job that saved a title run — remains the quintessential ODI all-rounder innings under pressure. With the ball, he thrived without analytics or fielding rings to protect him, which raises his era-adjusted value.
Sanath Jayasuriya — Sri Lanka, batting all-rounder, spin
The pinch-hitting pioneer at the top who made captains rethink fine leg and mid-on from ball one. As a left-arm spinner, he bowled the canny overs with fields pushed back, nicking wickets through ego and impatience. In Sri Lanka’s finest tournament triumph, his double threat ignited entire campaigns.
Shaun Pollock — South Africa, bowling all-rounder, pace
The most economical modern seamer in extended windows, a tactical genius with field placements and angles. He batted with sound technique, rescuing totals from No. 7 or 8 and finishing with ice in his veins. If ODI pressure had a soundtrack, it would be Pollock’s good-length hiss past the outside edge.
Shahid Afridi — Pakistan, bowling all-rounder, legspin
Afridi’s batting reputation overshadows the truth: in ODIs, he was a wicket-taking legspinner first. His economy in middle overs held strong even as fields opened, and he broke stands with wrong’uns hidden in plain sight. With the bat, his bursts stole matches, and even when they didn’t come off, they forced bowling plans to shift.
Andrew Flintoff — England, balanced all-rounder, pace
From hard lengths with a steep bounce to late-innings power-hitting, Flintoff’s peak was seismic. He moved the ball in the air, cut it off the seam, and bowled heavy overs at the death. One-handed pick-ups over midwicket, back-of-a-length cutters, and that swagger: he thrived in pressure blocks.
Lance Klusener — South Africa, batting all-rounder, pace
The most feared ODI finisher of his prime. The whiplash bat-swing could break boundaries at will, but Klusener’s calling card was clarity: calm to ball one, then pure violence. With the ball, he bowled into the pitch, gripping surfaces in middle overs. World Cup folklore is built on players like him for good reason.
Chris Cairns — New Zealand, balanced all-rounder, pace
A true middle-order powerhouse, Cairns could play the long game or light up the sky. He bowled a heavy ball, swung it when conditions allowed, and was a better new-ball option than he’s often credited for. On big days, he often found an extra gear.
Wasim Akram — Pakistan, bowling all-rounder, pace
Nominally a bowler, Wasim’s ODI batting delivered clutch punches. With the ball, he is simply the reference point for a left-arm seamer: new-ball lift, old-ball swerve, and cutters that made batters panic. He had batting cameos that flipped matches, which raises his all-rounder grade beyond wicket tallies.
Ben Stokes — England, batting all-rounder, pace
A batter whose temperament matches the moment. Stokes calibrates risk better than most renowned hitters and adds overs of hard-nosed seam. His defining ODI days have come against top opposition in finals and must-win games. World Cup pedigree adds heft.
Abdul Razzaq — Pakistan, batting all-rounder, pace
Golden hands in the lower middle order and one of the most effective new-ball bowlers in seam-friendly conditions. Razzaq’s batting carried a unique calm — an ability to hit straight under pressure, pick lengths early, and chase cleanly.
Andrew Symonds — Australia, batting all-rounder, offspin/medium
Symonds added muscle to a dominant side, but his bowling flexibility is underappreciated. Offspin to lefties, medium pace to righties, fielding that saved dozens of runs. He could anchor, he could maul, and he did both in crunch games.
Ravindra Jadeja — India, bowling all-rounder, spin
ODI gold on flat decks is dot-ball creation. Jadeja’s quick-over rhythm does that. Then he turns into a late-overs manipulator who picks gaps with surgical precision. Add fielding brilliance and you’ve got impact without fanfare.
Ian Botham — England, bowling all-rounder, pace
In ODI terms, Botham’s batting strike rate is more modern than remembered. He took the new ball, hunted wickets, and shoved totals forward with straightforward brutality. Peak windows and opposition quality boost his era-adjusted grade.
Angelo Mathews — Sri Lanka, batting all-rounder, seam
Mathews is the consummate glue player: accumulator, finisher, and calm sixth bowler who shapes the ball both ways. He’s stitched Sri Lanka’s ODI batting together across conditions and handled pressure chases with minimal fuss.
Jason Holder — West Indies, bowling all-rounder, pace
Holder brings game control with new-ball nip and old-ball discipline. His batting is deceptively mature — strong square, straight, and playing behind the line. He’s carried bowling loads during transitions and still contributed timely fifties.
Jacob Oram — New Zealand, bowling all-rounder, pace
Towering presence who hit the deck hard and could bat in the top six when needed. In ODIs, he’s remembered for upping his batting intent late and bowling with discipline early.
Heath Streak — Zimbabwe, bowling all-rounder, pace
The face of Zimbabwe’s golden phase, Streak was a seam-bowling metronome with late-innings hitting. He often took the hardest overs because there was no one else who could, and still chipped in with crucial runs.
Scott Styris — New Zealand, batting all-rounder, medium pace
A canny batter and awkward seamer, Styris had a knack for inflating his impact in major tournaments. His medium-pace cutters aged beautifully in ODIs as pitches tired and targets tightened.
Mohammad Nabi — Afghanistan, balanced all-rounder, spin
The godfather of Afghanistan’s rise in limited-overs cricket. Middle-overs miser with the ball, canny against spin with the bat, and a clutch hitter late on. His value to structure and temperament in a young team is beyond numbers.
Shane Watson — Australia, batting all-rounder, pace
Devastating at the top and versatile in the middle, Watson combined clean power with sturdy technique and reliable seam bowling. When he got set, he controlled chase tempos and forced captains defensive.
Chris Woakes — England, bowling all-rounder, pace
New-ball whisperer, death-overs survivor, lower-order rescuer. Woakes’s ODI batting is underrated; his elegance down the ground hides a competitive heartbeat.
Paul Collingwood — England, batting all-rounder, medium pace
Not the flashiest, but Collingwood was tactical glue, stealing overs with nagging lines and recycling runs. He often finished games that others started and stood tall with the bat in tight chases.

Snubs and hard calls

Richard Hadlee and Kapil Dev invite comparison; Kapil’s ODI batting punch and a seminal World Cup campaign push him ahead in this format.
Yuvraj Singh’s World Cup of dreams is one of the most dominant tournaments any all-rounder has produced; outside that peak, his ODI bowling volume is limited relative to the names above. He sits just outside the 25 in our model but rockets up any World Cup-only list.
Neil Johnson’s incandescent tournament peak and a short but brutal run are recognized in peak scoring; longevity keeps him outside the main list.

Batting all-rounders vs bowling all-rounders, and why the distinction matters

Batting all-rounders: Selected primarily for batting, they bowl on matchup, phase, and surface. Think Kallis, Jayasuriya, Stokes, Symonds, Marsh, Watson. Their batting sets totals and shapes chases; their bowling often covers a medium’s worth of overs when conditions favor them.
Bowling all-rounders: Selected primarily for bowling, they must bat with at least lower-order control. Think Pollock, Wasim, Jadeja, Holder, Streak. They give you a frontline bowler plus the possibility of a quickfire 35 that flips a par score to a winning total.
Balanced all-rounders: Selected equally for both. Think Shakib, Flintoff, Cairns. They offer a rare list profile that makes selection meetings easy: two picks in one.

This split shapes team balance. Two bat-dominant all-rounders plus a bowling-dominant one can give you eight bowling options without sacrificing a finisher. Conversely, two bowling-dominant profiles paired with a batting anchor reduces batting volatility but may leave you short on six-hitting. Captains and coaches pair profiles the way NFL coordinators pair pass-rushers and run-stoppers.

Role-based and phase-based edges

Powerplay specialists: Seam-bowling all-rounders like Woakes and Holder carry new-ball plans. Their batting role then slots at seven or eight.
Middle-overs controllers: Spin all-rounders like Shakib, Jadeja, Santner, Nabi, and Raza target economy first. They attack with defensive fields, which forces batters to invent. With the bat, they calculate, exploit soft overs, and keep chasing maths straight.
Death-overs closers: Klusener as a hitter, Pollock and Wasim as bowlers. In modern squads, Maxwell can close batting while a pace-bowling all-rounder like Jansen handles 48 and 50.
Matchup merchants: Symonds, Stokes, and Styris bowled the kind of overs that exploit a batter’s trigger, not just the situation.

Country-by-country: historical pillars and current forces

India

Historical top five: Kapil Dev, Yuvraj Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Shastri, Hardik Pandya.
Current standouts: Jadeja’s overs are economy gold with sharp fielding. Pandya is India’s seam-bowling insurance and a finisher with intent. Axar Patel provides like-for-like spin-bowling all-round cover; Shardul Thakur plays as a wicket-taking bowler who swings a bat; Washington Sundar adds offspin and top-order insurance when selected.

Pakistan

Historical top five: Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood.
Current standouts: Shadab Khan is the tactical hub for legspin plus line-driving down the order; Mohammad Nawaz offers left-arm spin with batting composure; Faheem Ashraf and Agha Salman supply flexibility that Pakistan often needs to balance the XI.

Bangladesh

Historical top five: Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah (bat-led all-round value), Mohammed Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza (bowling-led contributions with critical lower-order hitting), Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
Current standouts: Shakib remains the axis; Mehidy plays the crisis role — top-order emergency bat, mid-overs enforcer with the ball. Afif Hossain trends into batting all-round territory with match-up overs.

Sri Lanka

Historical top five: Sanath Jayasuriya, Angelo Mathews, Thisara Perera, Chaminda Vaas (bowling all-rounder profile), Arjuna Ranatunga’s occasional overs contributed in unique tactical set-ups.
Current standouts: Wanindu Hasaranga changes games when available, with legspin and hitting; Dhananjaya de Silva is a control merchant with the bat and offspin; Dasun Shanaka adds medium pace and finishing power; Dunith Wellalage looks like the next left-arm spin all-rounder prototype.

South Africa

Historical top five: Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Chris Morris (short but impactful peak), Jacques’s era partner Albie Morkel had bursts of ferocity.
Current standouts: Marco Jansen carries new-ball threat and hitting; Aiden Markram offers top-order stability and offspin; Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder represent depth with different balances of bat and ball.

Australia

Historical top five: Shane Watson, Andrew Symonds, Mitchell Marsh (across eras), Steve Waugh, James Faulkner (short but deadly death-overs plus finishing).
Current standouts: Maxwell and Marsh are the headline acts; Stoinis and Cameron Green give Australia multiple seam-bowling all-rounders to rotate; Sean Abbott’s batting growth deepens the lower order.

England

Historical top five: Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, Ben Stokes, Paul Collingwood, Moeen Ali.
Current standouts: Stokes’ batting value is immense on big days; Moeen offers offspin stability and left-hand batting; Sam Curran’s seam and lower-order hitting are best in specific matchups; Chris Woakes remains the new-ball and lower-order model.

New Zealand

Historical top five: Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram, Scott Styris, Chris Harris (golden arm and awkward batting), Daniel Vettori (bowling all-rounder with underrated batting).
Current standouts: Mitchell Santner’s economy is structural; Rachin Ravindra brings top-order runs with useful spin; Daryl Mitchell supplies top-order steel and medium pace when needed; James Neesham closes chases and bowls key overs.

Afghanistan and Zimbabwe

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan headline; Azmatullah Omarzai is an emerging seam-bowling all-rounder with hitting range.
Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza is elite; Sean Williams’ batting-led all-round value has anchored many wins.

Associates to watch

Bas de Leede (Netherlands) blends top-order runs with seam swing and variations.
Mark Adair (Ireland) hits a hard length and swings for the fences late.
Rohan Mustafa (UAE) adds top-order stability and offspin control.

Milestones and rare clubs that define ODI all-rounders

The 3000 runs / 200 wickets club

This is the most exclusive marker of sustained dual discipline in ODIs. Players who sit in this circle include:

Jacques Kallis
Shakib Al Hasan
Sanath Jayasuriya
Shahid Afridi
Wasim Akram
Shaun Pollock
Kapil Dev
Chris Cairns
Abdul Razzaq

It tells you who did both jobs for long enough at a high enough level to build elite counting stats. Not every legend is here; Imran Khan’s ODI wickets tally doesn’t cross the mark despite his influence, which is why peak and World Cup weighting matter.

Best batting and bowling average balance

Balanced all-rounders maintain a batting average higher than their bowling average across significant samples. Kallis, Shakib, Cairns, and Pollock score strongly here. This single metric is not everything, but when it’s paired with strike rate and economy context, it sings.

Fast double milestones

Reaching 1000 runs and 100 wickets early in a career often correlates with a long-term all-rounder profile. Shakib and Afridi did this quickly; others like Kapil and Razzaq got there with relentless volume. The leaderboards depend on filters, but the pattern holds: the earlier you reach the double, the more your team relied on you in both skills.

World Cup all-rounders: tournaments that minted legends

Tournament pressure warps perception. It also reveals who can play roles across formats and conditions under stress. Here are some of the most compelling World Cup all-round campaigns:

Imran Khan in Australasia: As captain, batting presence, and strike bowler, he turned a staggered start into a title surge. Tactical bravery, bowling changes, and timely runs defined his tournament.
Kapil Dev in England: The rescue act at Tunbridge Wells remains the single most consequential ODI all-rounder innings for India’s global rise. His bowling cut through new-ball movement and slog overs alike.
Sanath Jayasuriya in the subcontinent: His early-overs blitz against pace attacks reset ODI batting expectations. He also bowled probing spells, exploiting batters rattled by his batting ferocity.
Lance Klusener in England: Finishing chases with ice-cold strokeplay, he walked in late and made the stage his own. With the ball he was spare parts and glue, yet vital.
Yuvraj Singh in the subcontinent: A dream tournament — middle-order authority with the bat, wicket-taking left-arm spin through the middle, clutch fielding. Player-of-the-tournament supremacy from a batting all-rounder.
Shakib Al Hasan in England: A masterclass in control with the bat and ball. He scored at will against all opposition and kept the ball on a string in the middle overs.
Ben Stokes in England: Not a bowling-heavy tournament, but the magnitude of batting under pressure on finals day, the courage in chases, and defensive fielding lifted England’s campaign.

World Cup all-rounders XI

Sanath Jayasuriya
Jacques Kallis
Shakib Al Hasan
Ben Stokes
Kapil Dev
Imran Khan (capt)
Shahid Afridi
Andrew Flintoff
Wasim Akram
Shaun Pollock
MS Dhoni (wk)

This XI leans into bowling depth without sacrificing batting depth. Dhoni is the non-all-rounder selection to keep and finish; everyone else bowls or bats to a top-tier ODI standard and several do both.

Best ODI all-rounders since the new-ball and fielding restriction era

When ODIs tilted toward higher run rates, certain profiles rose:

Spin all-rounders who bowl into the pitch with subtle pace changes (Shakib, Jadeja, Santner, Nabi) now hold premium value; they remove the slog-sweep and milk singles while the field sits out.
Seam-bowling all-rounders who can bat in the top six (Marsh, Watson, Stokes) let teams pick a sixth bowler without killing the batting order.
Batters with part-time overs are less viable; captains want guaranteed ten-over packages or well-defined five-over spells that serve matchups, not place-holding.

Subcontinent vs SENA: conditions and all-rounder archetypes

Subcontinent plus hybrid Asian decks: Finger spin and wrist spin all-rounders dominate in the middle overs; batting all-rounders who pick length early excel against pace-off. Jayasuriya’s blueprint remains instructive, Shakib’s template remains modern.
SENA conditions: Seam-bowling all-rounders who hit the deck and control the short ball thrive. Pollock, Stokes, Klusener — they feel like home here. Batters who can pull and cut on bounce have a direct advantage.
Neutral venues: Balance wins. Forgiving pitches call for bowlers who can absorb punishment with tight lines and batters who avoid dot-ball pressure. The balanced all-rounder archetype (Flintoff in his prime, Shakib across cycles) offers the ideal spine.

Under-the-radar current ODI all-rounders

Azmatullah Omarzai: New-ball movement and a clean bat swing down the ground. The composure is the selling point; he does not panic when plans change.
Dunith Wellalage: Left-arm spin with honest batting. The control he showed early in his ODI journey suggests a Jadeja-lite ceiling.
Agha Salman: Used smartly, he can anchor a chase and offer offspin overs that allow a legspinner to attack more freely.
Sean Abbott: Bowling-led with lower-order six-hitting and sharp fielding. Teams notice more when a player turns eights into tens at the end.
Bas de Leede: Netherlands’ multi-phase seam and a top-order presence with the bat. Technique first, then engine room power.

How ICC ODI all-rounder rankings compare to ARII

ICC’s system rewards recent series heavily with a fixed decay and combines batting and bowling into a single rating with discipline-specific points. That’s valuable if you want a crisp snapshot. ARII treats role and phase value explicitly, gives bonus weight for World Cups and pressure contributions, and normalizes for era and conditions. Where they often agree: Shakib, Santner, and Raza remain consistently high. Where they diverge: Daryl Mitchell’s limited bowling volume lowers his ARII placement compared to purely batting metrics; Maxwell rises on ARII because his bowling overs are used in high-leverage matchups and his finishing over-indexes on win probability.

Tactical breakdown: building an ODI XI around all-rounders

One balanced all-rounder is your anchor. Shakib or Flintoff style players give six controllable bowling overs on an average day and finish an innings with the bat.
Pair a bowling-dominant all-rounder (Pollock type) with a batting-dominant all-rounder (Jayasuriya type). It creates an eight-bowler strategy without punting on top-order stability.
Decide your spin balance. Two spin all-rounders can control the middle overs on flat decks. One spinner and one seam-bowling all-rounder fit better in seam-friendly conditions.
Avoid pretending a part-timer is a full option. ODI batters target “filler overs.” If your batting all-rounder can only be trusted for three overs, you need a sixth bowler.

Best ODI batting all-rounders

Jacques Kallis: Anchor who could shift through gears late, plus new-ball control.
Sanath Jayasuriya: Pinch-hitting godfather with enough spin to lock ends.
Ben Stokes: Big-match temperament, game-reading, seam overs in bursts.
Shane Watson: Opener who could also bowl hard lengths and cutters.
Andrew Symonds: Middle-order muscle with twin bowling options.
Lance Klusener: Finisher who bent endgame math.

Best ODI bowling all-rounders

Shaun Pollock: New-ball metronome, death-overs cool, batting insurance.
Wasim Akram: Reverse-swing genius with clutch batting.
Ravindra Jadeja: Middle-overs chokehold and finishing finesse.
Jason Holder: New-ball discipline and lower-order rescue acts.
Heath Streak: Relentless utility in both disciplines under resource constraints.

Left-handed ODI all-rounders

Batting southpaws with bowling impact often unsettle matchups: Jayasuriya, Stokes, Jadeja, Shakib. Captains plan around their angles, and analytics show left-hand batters with spin-bowling skill squeeze right-handed heavy line-ups uniquely.

Most Man of the Match awards by ODI all-rounders

Awards often skew toward batters. When an all-rounder leads this category, it reveals how visible and decisive their contributions were. Jayasuriya and Afridi pile them up through explosive batting with wicket-taking spells. Kallis mounts a different case: fewer fireworks, more wins. Stokes and Maxwell trend upward thanks to decisive finishes that define highlights.

Contextual note: not every all-rounder’s best day wins a trophy; the best overs can be invisible on scorecards. That’s why this list is a layer, not a verdict.

All-time vs current: what changed in ODI all-rounder value

Strike rates rose. Batting all-rounders now have to clear a strike-rate threshold to justify their bowling. The days of a batter who trundles five overs are fading.
Finger spin regained value. Wrist spin boomed in T20 lanes, but ODIs still love left-arm orthodox control paired with batting assurance.
Death overs got specialized. High-skill yorkers and cutters dominate; fewer all-rounders bowl the death, but those who do (Pollock’s template) become priceless.
Fielding matters more than ever. Jadeja and Symonds turned twos into ones and ones into none. A dozen runs saved is half a good death over.

Current form guide: who’s trending

Rising: Glenn Maxwell’s batting explosions plus matchup overs; Rachin Ravindra’s run-scoring with enough spin; Marco Jansen’s wicket tallies and six-hitting bursts; Sikandar Raza’s consistency against higher-ranked teams.
Reasserting: Ravindra Jadeja continues to lock games quietly; Mitchell Marsh’s run stack is a pillar for Australia; Rashid Khan may not bat high, but his bowling shows up in the hardest overs.
Nursing: Hardik Pandya’s value spikes when he bowls full spells; when managed carefully, his ARII lifts quickly due to the balance he provides.

Comparative snapshots

Since the power-hitting explosion, batting all-rounders at No. 6 and No. 7 with a strike rate north of a hundred and ten overs per match of bowling are the positional unicorns. Marsh, Stokes, Symonds in their best windows fit this.
In subcontinent ODIs, spin all-rounders who bat in the top seven may be the single most valuable archetype. Shakib, Jadeja, Santner, Raza demonstrate why you can control games without raw pace.
For seaming decks, a fast-bowling all-rounder who can new-ball and bat at seven stabilizes selection. Pollock, Holder, Woakes, and the emerging Marco Jansen are models here.

A structured index you can trust

To make the rankings useful, we keep two lists:

Best current ODI all-rounders: updated monthly, using ARII and a change log. The current table above will evolve as series finish and World Cups approach.
Best ODI all-rounders of all time: updated only when there’s a sustained case to adjust the order or when a modern player’s peak plus longevity clears a clear bar.

Every shuffle is documented: who rose, who fell, and why, with a short note on form, role change, or injury management. Reliability is the point.

The ODI all-rounder archetype, distilled

Skill plurality: You must contribute as a first-choice option in one discipline while being above replacement in the other. A batter who bowls occasional overs is not enough without results.
Phase competence: Knowing when your overs matter is half the job. Bowling five overs in the middle is different from new-ball or death overs. Batting at five is different from seven; strike rate needs differ.
Tactical intelligence: ODI cricket demands situational mastery. Klusener’s calm was tactical. Stokes’ finals day batting was judgment. Shakib’s bowling is chess.
Durability: The dual workload punishes bodies. All-time greats protected their peaks while offering availability; current stars manage training, match-ups, and formats.
Fielding excellence: The third discipline cannot be an afterthought. Jadeja’s run-out or Symonds’ diving stop swing marginal games.

FAQs reimagined as clear takeaways

The No 1 ODI all-rounder right now: Shakib Al Hasan on ARII, with Santner and Maxwell pushing close depending on series windows.
The best ODI all-rounder of all time: Jacques Kallis in our ARII-Classic, followed closely by Imran Khan and Shakib Al Hasan; Kapil Dev and Jayasuriya round out the absolute elite.
A good all-rounder average in ODIs: Batting above the team’s top-six average with a strike rate aligned to role, while keeping a bowling average better than the global baseline for your type, is a strong marker. Balanced profiles aim for batting averages in the mid-30s or higher and bowling averages at or below 30 with economy under five in control roles.
How ICC ODI all-rounder rankings are calculated: ICC uses discipline-specific points with time decay over recent series; ARII layers role, phase value, and big-match weighting on top of production.
The most runs and wickets in ODIs by a single player: Kallis tops the run charts among true all-rounders while maintaining a major wicket tally; Afridi’s combined counts are massive due to longevity and wicket-taking legspin.
The best Indian ODI all-rounder currently: Ravindra Jadeja on ARII due to economy, finishing, and fielding, with Hardik Pandya pushing up when bowling loads are steady.
The best ODI all-rounder in World Cup history: Depends on your weighting. By peak tournament impact, Yuvraj Singh and Lance Klusener stand out; by sustained tournament influence and dual discipline, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Shakib Al Hasan, and Sanath Jayasuriya form the spine.

The future of the ODI all-rounder

The calendar is congested, and T20 skills bleed into ODIs. Two trends are shaping the next wave:

Batters who bowl with matchup precision: Glenn Phillips and Aiden Markram can turn big games without being frontline bowlers. In ODIs, five disciplined overs of the right type is huge.
Seam all-rounders with batting intent: Cameron Green and Marco Jansen are the blueprint — tall, fast, and comfortable batting at seven. They let coaches pick an extra specialist without shrinking the batting.

Spin will remain central to ODI all-round value on flat wickets; left-arm orthodox in particular carries outsized influence because it plays nicely with fielding restrictions and right-hand heavy line-ups. Legspin all-rounders like Shadab Khan and Wanindu Hasaranga will fluctuate with form and matchup, but their ceiling on good days is match-winning.

Editorial notes on how to use these rankings

Squad planning: Pair profiles. Don’t double up on three batting all-rounders and wonder why your last ten overs with the ball go for a hundred.
Opposition scouting: Target the weaker discipline. If Maxwell bowls, attack consistently, but not emotionally; he’s set to break rhythm, not hold an end. If Jadeja bats with five overs left, make him hit to the longer side; he’s a master of twos otherwise.
Career assessment: Celebrate peaks, respect consistency. ODI all-rounders log miles and carry invisible value in setting fields, changing angles, and covering teammate weaknesses. ARII recognizes the invisible bits, not just columns in a scorecard.

Conclusion: the many ways of being the best

There isn’t one way to be the best ODI all-rounder. Kallis did it with weight and calm. Imran with leadership and bite. Kapil with audacity. Jayasuriya with a revolution. Pollock with discipline. Klusener with fire. Jadeja with control. Shakib with mastery. The common thread is clarity: a deep understanding of moments — when to absorb, when to strike, when to deny. That’s what our model looks for, and that’s what separates a bits-and-pieces cricketer from an ODI all-rounder who wins you trophies.

All-time or current, national icon or under-the-radar, the great ones share one more trait: teams trust them in the overs that decide futures. If you’re building an ODI side for today or for history, you start with your all-rounders. Everything else falls in line.

Sources and data protocols

ICC Rankings for ODI all-rounders for month-to-month movement signals.
ESPNcricinfo Statsguru for era splits, opposition strength, phase metrics, and tournament filters.
HowSTAT and Cricbuzz records for milestone validation and contextual stat checks.
Internal ARII model for role tags, era normalization, and match-impact calculations across rolling windows and tournament bonuses.