ODI Team of the Year

Our expert looks at ODI performances over the past year and picks his squad of 12 based on the Castrol Index.

The ICC announced the ODI team of the year earlier this week, based on performances between Aug 11, 2010 and Aug 3, 2011. Here’s what the final team was:

1.  Tillakaratne Dilshan
2.  Virender Sehwag
3.  Kumar Sangakkara
4.  AB de Villiers
5.  Yuvraj Singh
6.  MS Dhoni (capt & wk)
7.  Shane Watson
8.  Graeme Swann
9.  Umar Gul
10. Dale Steyn
11. Zaheer Khan
12th Man – Lasith Malinga

I guessed the batting order a bit, since Shane Watson was in the side that already included two openers.

Were there any players that were unlucky to miss out? Let’s take a look at the numbers and find out. Bear in mind that any selection like this has to be based on a number of factors, but it primarily comes down to the quantitative (the sheer weight of numbers) and the qualitative (the context in which the player performed).

Here’s a look at the top batsmen in the timeframe considered for selection, with the adjusted batting momentum (BM) being an overall measure of performance. I only looked at batsmen with over 600 runs in the timeframe to make sure it was not too small a sample. The highlighted players are the ones who made the ICC XI.

The numbers suggest Sehwag and Watson deserve their place in the XI. Stirling’s numbers look good but here’s where context comes into play - most of his runs have come against minnows and so it seems hard to pick him ahead of the others. Amla though can feel extremely unlucky to have missed out - his average and strike rate are much better than Dilshan’s, the opener who made the ODI XI. Yes, Dilshan was the highest scorer in the World Cup but Amla has been far more consistent during the year and would have made my team. deVillers seems like a safe bet with his stellar stats. Yuvraj ranks 21st in the list but again here’s where context comes in to play. Yuvraj was useful with the ball (26 wickets at an average of 27.8) and had an unbelievable World Cup campaign, which justifies his selection. As for Sanga, it’s down to him, Clarke and Gambhir for the remaining spot. You could play Sehwag and Watson up front with Amla at 3 and Clarke in at 4 for stability. Or you could open with Sehwag and Amla, with Gambhir at 3 and Watson at 6 or 7. It comes down to what you think is a better balanced side but either way it seems like Sanga would miss out on one of the batting slots.

That said, Sanga could still make the side as the wicketkeeper. It seems almost blasphemous to not pick Dhoni, the winning-est captain in all forms of the game over the past year. His ODI record though indicates an average of 32 and a strike rate of 69.7. And as good as a captain he’s been, his stats are far worse than Sanga’s and his match-winning World Cup final knock is not enough to assure him a place in the XI.

Here’s a look at the numbers for the bowlers. The adjusted bowling efficiency (BE) has been used to measure overall bowling performance. Only bowlers who’ve bowled at least 100 overs have been considered.

Steyn’s numbers back up his selection. Swann and Ajmal look close on numbers but here’s some more context - Ajmal took 7-42 against Ireland to bolster his numbers. Swann’s wickets have come against high quality opposition, which justifies picking him. Now that we have our spinner, we need the other pacemen. Morne Morkel’s numbers are significantly better than Umar Gul, while Zak and Malinga have done enough to justify their place.

So here’s what an alternate final XI might look like:

1.  Hashim Amla
2.  Virender Sehwag
3.  Gautam Gambhir/Michael Clarke
4.  Kumar Sangakkara (capt & wk)
5.  AB de Villiers
6.  Yuvraj Singh
7.  Shane Watson
8.  Graeme Swann
9.  Morne Morkel
10. Dale Steyn
11. Zaheer Khan
12th Man - LasithMalinga