In Wisden’s 2021 edition, five ODI cricketers have been named as Cricketers of the decade in the Cricketers Almanack, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first One-Day International. The book which is often described as the bible of cricket has named Indian skipper Virat Kohli as cricketer of the decade for 2010. Virat Kohli made his ODI debut in 2008 against Sri Lanka. He is considered one of the finest ODI batsmen of all time, scoring a staggering 12,169 runs from 254 ODIs. The 32-year-old was also part of the 2011 World Cup winning Indian team. He has made more than 11,000 runs in these past 10-years averaging over 60 and scoring 42 centuries.
“One cricketer has been named for each of the decades between 1971 and 2021, with India captain Virat Kohli taking the award for the 2010s,” Wisden said on its website.
Sri Lanka’s spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan was named as the ODI Cricketer of the 2000s by Wisden. He played a crucial role in helping Sri Lanka to make it to the World Cup final in 2011 and claimed 335 wickets in the decade, more than any other bowler has in a single decade. Along with them, Wisden has also named the god of cricket, legend Sachin Tendulkar as the ODI Cricketer of the 1990s. The right-handed Indian batsman made nine ODI hundreds in the year 1998, more than any other batsman in a single calendar year.
Kapil Dev, India’s Maiden World Cup-winning skipper too gained a spot as the ODI Cricketer for the 1980s. He claimed more wickets than any other in the decade and scored at the highest strike rate of any batsman with over 1000 runs, alongside bringing the cup home in 1983.
Lastly, West Indies’ Vivian Richards was the ODI cricketer of the year for the 1970s, which was the first decade of this format. Richards scored an essential century in the final of the 1970 World Cup to help the team win the trophy.
Ben Stokes won ‘Leading Cricketer in the World’ for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, besides naming cricketers of the decade, Wisden declared the following players as Cricketers of the year 2021: Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jason Holder, Mohammed Rizwan, and Darren Stevens. Australia’s Beth Mooney was awarded ‘Leading Women’s Cricketer in the World’ while West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard was named the Leading T20 Cricketer in the World.