The gentlemen’s game has been blessed to see exceptional cricketers from time to time who can contribute with both bat and ball. In the modern day game, the role of allrounders is becoming ever important. Key players like Ben Stokes, Shakib Al-Hasan, or even India’s Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya have become the new crowd favourites for contributing to their team in all ways possible.
As such, who do you think can make up the list of the top three all-rounders in the history of the game? Here is an attempt at ranking the best all-rounders of all time.
We kick start this list with an important player in Indian Cricket’s history, their first World Cup-winning captain who led them to the title in 1983. The ‘Haryana Hurricane’ is arguably one of the best cricketers India has ever produced, with 5248 Test runs and 434 Test wickets. In the limited-overs game, he has 3783 runs along with 253 wickets.
His knock of 175 against the West Indies in the 1983 World Cup is still one of the most memorable innings in the game’s history. While India has always found someone to replace their exceptional batting greats like Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar, finding an allrounder with Kapil Dev’s abilities is still a project in progress for India.
Edging past Kapil Dev is one of his neighbours in Pakistan. The country’s former Prime Minister, Imran Khan, is one of the greatest captains in Pakistan’s Cricket history. Against all odds, he led Pakistan to World Cup glory in 1992 and remained influential on and off the pitch. He’ll always be known as the king of swing and a clever batter who always delivered when his team needed him.
Imran Khan had a complete cricketing career. In 88 Tests, he scored 3807 runs alongside 362 wickets. In the limited-overs game, he scored 3709 runs in 175 ODIs taking 182 wickets. He also had seven international centuries in his illustrious career.
1. Sir Garfield Sobers (West Indies)
If a perfect allrounder in cricket ever existed, it would be West Indies’ great Sir Garfield Sobers. The ‘five-in-one cricketer’, as Sir Don Bradman once called him, Gary Sobers, was one of the greatest cricketers of his generation. Bowlers feared bowling at him, while batters feared facing his medium-pace bowling and the occasional spinning deliveries.
If his ability with the bat and ball was enough to drive the opposition crazy, Sobers took that fear up a notch with his exceptional fielding right, earning the tag of ‘five-in-one’ player. In 93 Tests, he scored 8032 runs whilst picking up 235 wickets. He played only one ODI in his career where he did not bat but did pick up a wicket. His name belongs right next to Caribbean greats like Brian Lara, Sir Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd, to name a few.