Same ODI eleven playing in maximum number of matches

An analysis of playing elevens over the years throws up interesting results. You might be surprised too.

Recently I had done an analysis of Test elevens who played together in many matches. The results were quite surprising since the highest was matches by West Indies during 1989-90 when they played together in 11 matches. One would have expected higher numbers.

I decided I would do a similar analysis for ODIs and I seriously expected the same eleven playing together for, say, 25 matches since nearly 3000 matches have been played in 40 years.

I had a shock when I realized that the highest number is even lower than for Tests indicating that there are quite a few team changes, players opting out more often, injuries and the number of utility players who play ODI matches ensures that a playing eleven does not play together long.

The highest is 10 matches, by Sri Lanka. The team is

Mahanama
Jayasuriya
Gurusinha
A de Silva
Ranatunga
Tillekaratne
Kaluwitharana
Dharmasena
Vass
Wickramasinghe
Muralitharan

There are three teams which come next, tied at 8 matches. This was achieved by the Sri Lankan team of Kaluwitharana, Jayasuriya, Atapattu, A de Silva, Ranatunga, Tillekaratne, Mahanama, Dharmasena, Vass, KSC de Silva and Muralitharan.

Also by India, represented by Sehwag, Tendulkar, Mongia, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Kaif, Harbhajan, Zaheer Khan, Nehra and Srinath, played 8 matches together. Incidentally the same team played in the 2003 World Cup Final.

The New Zealand XI of Horne, Astle, McMillan, Fleming, Twose, Chris Cairns, Parore, Harris, Nash, Larsen and Allott, played 8 matches.

Three West Indian elevens played 7 matches together. The first team is, Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Kallicharan, Lloyd, CL King, JT Murray, Roberts, Garner, Holding and Croft. Then, Greenidge, Richardson, Richards, Gomes, Lloyd, Logie, Dujon, Marshall, Garner, Holding and Davis. Finally Haynes, Lara, Simmons, Richardson, Hooper, Logie, Adams, JR Murray, Bishop, Ambrose and Walsh played 7 matches together.

The Zimbabwe eleven of G Flower, Waller, A Flower, Houghton, Evans, Whittall, Campbell, P Strang, Streak, Brandes and Rennie played 7 matches together.

As did South Africa, represented by Kirsten, Gibbs, Kallis, Cullinan, Cronje, Rhodes, Boucher, Pollock, Kluesener, Elworthy and Donald.

And Pakistan played 7 matches. The players were Afridi, Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Inzamam, Md Yousuf, Razzaq, Latif, Wasim Akram, Waqar, Akhtar and Saqlain.

The best for Australia by Boon, Marsh, Border, Ritchie, Phillips, S Waugh, Mathews, McDermott, Gilbert, Reid and Davis played 6 matches.

4 English teams have played together for 6 matches. The latest eleven is Cook, Mustard, Bell, Pietersen, Collingwood, Shah, Bopara, Swann, Broad, Sidebottom and Anderson.

As a corollary, I took the next step of identifying matches in which all 22 players were the same. One combination has played in 4 matches. South Africa, represented by Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Dippenaar, Rudolph, Boucher, Pollock, Kluesener, Peterson, Nel and Ntini and West Indies, represented by Gayle, Chanderpaul, R Powell, Sarwan, Lara, DR Smith, Jacobs, Hurley, Dillon, Rampaul and Collymore, played 4 matches a few years back.