











© ESPNcricinfo Ltd

For a significant part of the last 25 years, Test and ODI teams did not differ radically from one another - cricket was cricket, after all, and class was class. ESPNcricinfo's mighty ODI XI of the last 25 years reflects this.

Three are just three changes from the dream Test XI (Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers and MS Dhoni are the new entrants). The bowling line-up is identical.

But the selectors' votes were more divided here than in the Test team. Only three of the players below got a perfect five; two received four votes each, and there were two ties. The first was between Ricky Ponting and Dhoni for a batting slot. Dhoni took that one (on batting merit). And immediately entered another tie, for the captaincy, with Shane Warne. He took that one too - a classic Dhoni come-from-behind finish. [see sidebar for selection method]

The XI before you thus has two wicketkeepers (not counting de Villiers), so Dhoni could choose to assume his all-seeing position behind the stumps, get rid of the gloves and save himself 300-odd squats, or even choose to alternate: ask Adam Gilchrist to stand up to his compatriot Shane Warne, for example, while keeping himself to his former IPL team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan.

Presumably that will be one of Dhoni's harder decisions, because this side comes with auto commands for every situation. Need to blast off the blocks? "Go for it, Gilly." Bat big? "Sachin, Brian, do your thing." Go berserk? "Let it rip, ABD." Middle-overs wickets? "Where are you, Warney?" Clean up the tail? "All yours, Waz." Tough chase? "Virat, you start, I'm coming."

1. Adam Gilchrist

For a decade the sight of Gilchrist lashing the new ball over the infield or the rope was the harbinger of another Australian triumph. In his first two World Cup finals he stonked fifties; in the third, he smashed 149, perhaps the most exhilarating innings ever played on the game's biggest stage. All that and the best wicketkeeping dismissals-per-innings going.

Did you know? Each of Gilchrist's 16 hundreds were in wins, eight when batting first, and eight when chasing.

STATS

9619 runs at 35.89 from 287 ODIs (strike rate 96.94); Best 172; 16 hundreds, 55 fifties

417 catches, 55 stumpings

The jury Ian Chappell, columnist, broadcaster and former Australia captain Sanjay Manjrekar, commentator and former India player John Wright, former New Zealand captain and former India coach Dav Whatmore, former Sri Lanka coach and former Australia player Mark Nicholas, broadcaster, columnist and former Hampshire captain Each selector sent in their XI, and a composite team was compiled from them. In instances where players were tied for a position, we requested a casting vote from a selector who hadn't in the first instance picked the players involved in the tie. The period under consideration is March 1, 1993 to December 31, 2017.

2. Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar was the insatiable machine of one-day cricket. Nobody made as many runs, scored as many fifties, or hundreds - and in 2010, pushing 37, he became the first man to 200. He had more soul than a machine: few cricketers provided their countrymen memories as definitive, from Desert Storm in Sharjah to the Uppercut in Centurion.

Did you know? Tendulkar won 62 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs - 29% more than the next best (Sanath Jayasuriya, 48).

STATS

16,980 runs at 46.14 from 413 ODIs (strike rate 87.29); Best 200*; 49 hundreds, 84 fifties

142 wickets at 43.36 (econ rate 5.20); Best 5 for 32; 2 five-fors

3. Brian Lara

If Lara was born to bat in the longest form, he could also transfer that appetite to 50-over cricket. When he got to 10,000 ODI career runs, he was just one of a handful to have done so, and even fewer players had gone past 150 an innings as many times as him (three). All, of course, done in exquisite style.

Did you know? Lara is one of only five batsmen to score over 5000 runs in wins at an average above 60; the others are Kohli, Dhoni, de Villiers and Hashim Amla.

STATS

8849 runs at 40.77 from 255 ODIs (strike rate 81.89); Best 169; 17 hundreds, 51 fifties

4. Virat Kohli

Not yet 30, Kohli already has claims to being the greatest to have ever batted in the one-day format. If his average, in the high-50s, is jaw-dropping, consider that he scores those runs at a strike rate well above 90, while rarely condescending to slog. No target is safe when Kohli is on the chase.

Did you know? Kohli has 21 hundreds in chases - already four more than the next best (Tendulkar) - 19 of which have led to wins.

STATS

9030 runs at 55.74 from 202 ODIs (strike rate 91.73); Best 183; 32 hundreds, 45 fifties

5. AB de Villiers

The madman genius of limited-overs cricket. De Villiers sets himself up at the crease in ways bowlers cannot imagine, and makes shots that other batsmen cannot dream of. When in flow there is no batsman as destructive as him - and has possibly never been. Thirty-one-ball century anyone?

Did you know? De Villiers is the only ODI batsman to score 1000-plus runs at an average of more than 50 and a strike rate of more than 100.

STATS

9515 runs at 54.06 from 225 ODIs (strike rate 101.07); Best 176; 25 hundreds, 53 fifties

© ESPNcricinfo Ltd

6. Jacques Kallis

There may be bowlers, it is true, with more than 273 wickets, but have they scored over 11,000 colossal runs at 44 an innings? Kallis was the ultimate team balancer, equally capable of rescuing batting collapses and stepping up to bowl with the field still up.

Did you know? Kallis is one of only two allrounders to get the double of 10,000 runs and 250 wickets; Jayasuriya is the other.

STATS

11,579 runs at 44.36 from 328 ODIs (strike rate 72.89); Best 139; 17 hundreds, 86 fifties

273 wickets at 31.79 (econ rate 4.84); Best 5 for 30; 2 five-fors

7. MS Dhoni

Dhoni has the strength of an ox, the alacrity of a cat, and a technique all his own. He hits sixes as lustily as he steals singles nimbly, and has turned finishing-line manoeuvres into a party trick - none as famous as the straight six for the 2011 World Cup. Besides, no other keeper has 100 stumpings in one-day cricket.

Did you know? Dhoni has remained unbeaten in 44 winning chases, the highest in ODI history. Jonty Rhodes is next with 33.

STATS

9898 runs at 51.55 from 312 ODIs (strike rate 88.46); Best 183*; 10 hundreds, 67 fifties

293 catches, 105 stumpings

8. Wasim Akram

The two electrifying deliveries with which Akram bowled out Allan Lamb and Chris Lewis in the 1992 World Cup final are perhaps the greatest two deliveries ever bowled in one-day cricket. They also spell out in neon green why Akram could be perhaps the greatest one-day bowler there has ever been.

Did you know? Akram has taken three or more wickets in an ODI innings more times than any other bowler - 76. Muralitharan is next with 68.

STATS

Bowling: 295 wickets at 23.83 from 208 ODIs (Econ rate 3.97); Best 5 for 15; 2 five-fors

Batting: 2430 runs at 18.40 (strike rate 85.71); Best 79; 0 hundreds, 5 fifties

Readers' XI We polled ESPNcricinfo users in May, and their men's Test XI of the last 25 years is: 1. Adam Gilchrist (wk) 2. Sachin Tendulkar 3. Ricky Ponting 4. Virat Kohli 5. AB de Villiers 6. Jacques Kallis 7. MS Dhoni 8. Wasim Akram 9. Shane Warne 10. Muttiah Muralitharan 11. Glenn McGrath

9. Shane Warne

If the Pakistanis showed that legspinners can be ODI match-winners, Warne left no doubt of it. With his prodigious breaks and phenomenal will to win, he could turn matches that were slipping away or ram home early advantages - and he demonstrated both, unforgettably, in the final two matches of the 1999 World Cup.

Did you know? Warne is the only player to win three Man-of-the-Match awards in the semi-finals or finals of World Cups.

STATS

Bowling: 293 wickets at 25.73 from 194 ODIs (econ rate 4.25); Best 5 for 33; 1 five-for

Batting: 1018 runs at 13.05 (strike rate 72.04); Best 55; 0 hundreds, 1 fifty

10. Glenn McGrath

He generated fewer column inches than the batsmen and the bad boys, but McGrath's line, length, cut and bounce were no less crucial to Australia's success. Particularly lethal in World Cups, he bowed out of international cricket in 2007, fittingly, not just as (three-time) World Cup winner, but also Player of the Tournament.

Did you know? McGrath is the leading wicket-taker in World Cups with 71 wickets, at an average of 18.19 and economy rate of 3.96.

STATS

381 wickets at 22.02 from 250 ODIs (econ rate 3.88); Best 7 for 15; 7 five-fors

11. Muttiah Muralitharan

Murali claimed more wickets than anyone in ODI history, with more four-fours than anyone too, all at an economy rate straight out of the 1980s. He played five World Cups, won one, helped power Sri Lanka into the final of two and the semi-final of a third. Why wouldn't you have him in your side?

Did you know? Took four or more wickets in an innings 25 times, second only to Waqar Younis, who did it 27 times.

STATS

534 wickets at 23.08 (econ rate 3.93); Best 7 for 39; 10 five-fors

All statistics are for the period March 1, 1993 to December 31, 2017