Cricket has an abundance of batsmen and bowlers. But a great all-rounder- a good at batting and bowling- is a special commodity.
There are two types of an all-rounder in cricket. No. 1 Batting all-rounder and No. 2 bowling all-rounder. The main skill of batting all-rounder is batting, but they can contribute with the ball, too. Bowling all-rounder is excellent at bowling. A great all-rounder is someone who is fairly good at batting and bowling.
These are the top 5 best all-rounders in ICC Men's Test ranking.
1. Jason Holder
Country: West Indies
Jason Holder is a Barbadian cricketer and the former captain of the West Indies cricket team. Holder was a part of the 2010 U-19 World cup squad in New Zealand and West Indies, leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets. He made his ODI debut in January 2013. After a good performance in ODIs, the holder was selected for the test squad in June 2014. He made his test debut against New Zealand. He took his first test wicket by dismissing Ross Taylor for 16 runs. He completed the match with 2 wickets. Holder also scores 90 runs in the match, including his maiden test fifty.
He was made the captain of the West Indies in ODI format by the selectors. He became the youngest ever West Indies captain at 23 years. He was also named the captain of the test side for the tour to Sri Lanka on 4th September 2015.
Career stats in the test: 49 matches, 2287 runs, 31.76 batting average, 3 100s, 129 wickets, 27.27 bowling average.
2. Ben Stokes
Country: England
One of the most dangerous all-rounders of the modern era of cricket. Stokes was part of the England squad that won the 2019 world Cup. Stokes made his England debut in an ODI against Ireland in August 2011. He made his test debut in the 2nd test of the 2013-14 Ashes series. In his 2nd match, he made his maiden test century scoring 120 off 195 balls.
2019 world Cup final, he took the game into the super over for England. He again came out to bat during the super over and scored 8 off 3 to help England reach 15 runs in the one-over Eliminator.
Career stats in the test: 71 matches, 4631 runs, 37.05 batting average, 10 100s, 163 wickets, 31.39 bowling average.
3. Ravindra Jadeja
Country: India
Ravindra Jadeja was part of the U-19 cricket world cup squad that won the world cup in Malaysia in 2008. He made his ODI debut in February 2009, where he scored unbeaten 60 runs. After his good performance in Ranji Trophy season 2012-13, when he scored consecutive 300+ runs, he was selected in the Indian test team. In his Test debut against England at Nagpur, he picked 3 wickets.
Jadeja was ranked as the No. 1 bowler in ODI cricket by the ICC in 2013. He played a crucial part in the team that won the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He was also part of the 2015 and 2019 ODI cricket world cup for India.
Career stats in the test: 52 matches, 1985 runs, 35.45 batting average, 1 100s, 221 wickets, 24.42 bowling average.
4. Ravichandran Ashwin
Country: India
Ashwin started as an opening batsman at junior level, but he dropped down the order and turned into an off-break bowler due to limited success. Impressive performance in April 2010, Ashwin was selected for the Indian team. He made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka on 5th June 2010. Ashwin ODIs success saw him being included in the test squad, and he made his test debut against West Indies in November 2011.
Ashwin was a member of the Indian team that won the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England in December 2016; the ICC named Ashwin the ICC cricketer of the year and ICC test cricketer for 2016.
Career stats in the: 79 matches, 2685 runs, 27.68 batting average, 5 100s, 413 wickets, 24.56 bowling average.
5. Shakib Al Hasan
Country: Bangladesh
Shakib Al Hasan is the biggest name to have emerged from Bangladesh cricket. He made his debut against Zimbabwe on 6 August 2006 and made his Test debut on 6 May 2007 against India. He was appointed Bangladesh vice-captain in June 2009. Against West Indies the following month, the captain Mortaza was injured, and he took over the captaincy. Success against the West Indies ensured his retention of captaincy even after Mortaza recovered.
He was the first and the only cricketer in history to be ranked the 'No. 1 All-rounder' by ICC in its player ranking in all three formats of the game. He became the fastest all-rounder to 3000 runs and 200 wickets in the test.
Career stats in the test: 58 matches, 3933 runs, 39.33 average, 5 100s, 215 wickets, 30.96 bowling average.
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