Root, Morgan, Buttler Spearhead A Power Packed England ODI XI For Last Decade
England’s winning juggernaut in white ball cricket eventually led to them breaking their World Cup jinx and winning their maiden World Cup title in 2019 on home soil beating New Zealand in a nail biting final at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
England’s meteoric rise from a middle rung ODI team to a limited over powerhouse has perhaps been the success story that headlines one day international cricket in the last decade. In the second half of the decade, the ‘Three Lions’ did challenge the hegemony of the ODI big guns; India and Australia at the very top and eventually leapfrogged its formidable opponents as the 'Numero Uno' team in the 50-overs cricket.
The traditionalist ‘Inventors of the Game’ who always valued an Ashes Series win over their fierce rivals Australia as a more cherished or noteworthy piece of success above their limited over accolades brought about a complete transformation in their strategy and thought process in approaching the 50-over format by playing an aggressive brand of cricket, which eventually paid them huge dividends.
England’s winning juggernaut in white ball cricket eventually led to them breaking their World Cup jinx and winning their maiden World Cup title in 2019 on home soil beating New Zealand in a nail biting final at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground.
England’s stupendous rise to the very pinnacle of ODI cricket was largely drawn around a fearsome batting lineup which was a semblance of eye catching strokemakers and belligerent power hitters who combined well under the dynamic leadership of Eoin Morgan to pile up mammoth totals and chase down herculean targets with effortless ease.
Hales, Roy And Bairstow Provide Opening Salvo Up The Order
They had some lethal firepower opening the batting with swashbuckling openers in Alex Hales, Jason Roy and Johnny Bairstow, who could annihilate the best of bowling attacks with their belligerent stroke play and lofty hitting. Each of these openers had superlative reflexes and lethal shots in their armoury to maximize the power plays and provide the team with the initial thrust up the order.
Root and Pietersen Fortify A Compact Middle Order
Joe Root, England’s most elegant, dependable and consistent batsman owned and cemented his spot at No.3 exhibiting his superlative run scoring prowess. Amid some pugnacious stroke makers, Root provided a sense of calmness and stability to the batting with his stoic technique and calm temperament. England’s ‘Mr Consistent’ was at his best in playing the sheet anchor’s role and fortifying an innings.
Root does edge out some noteworthy batsmen of immense pedigree and caliber in Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, who also enjoyed a great deal of success with their penchant to score runs consistently in the middle order.
The superbly gifted but flawed batting genius Kevin Pietersen would perhaps be the top contender to bat at No.4 in an all time ODI XI for the last decade. KP’s free flowing and encapsulating style of batting ensured the scoreboard kept ticking as he was adept at both milking the singles and striking those boundaries with his breathtaking repertoire of shots. Meanwhile, James Taylor did impress in his brief stint with the national team.
Morgan, Buttler, Stokes Provide Plenty Of Firepower Down The Order
Hard hitting left handed batsman Eoin Morgan would walk in as England's best ODI bet at No.5. Morgan held the onus and responsibility of providing the acceleration and late flourishes to the innings with his power packed strokeplay. The southpaw's aggressive batting style was tailor-made to the 50-ver format as he loved to take the attack to the opposition.
Jos Buttler would walk into any England Dream XI ODI considering the destructive ability he brings with his dare-devilish stroke play. The dashing wicket-keeper batsman added meat to an already strong batting lineup with his ferocious ball striking ability. On his day, Buttler could blow away bowling attacks with some whirlwind innings which were laced with crisply hit boundaries and power-packed sixes.
England were spoilt for choices in their all-rounder slot as they had one too many to fill in that position. Paul Collingwood, Tim Bresnan and Moeen Ali all did yeoman service in ODIs with their all-round heroics.However, one of either Chris Woakes or Ben Stokes would seal the spot with their sheer ability to change a game on its head with some fiery knocks down the order. Both the seam all-rounders also lent depth to the pace attack with their nippy medium pace.
Broad, Anderson And Finn Lead A Potent Seam Attack
He might have gone onto become an English Test legend, but the tall and lanky Stuart Broad produced some devastating spells to stake a place in England's ODI pace armory. In the first half of the decade, Broad along with his famed seam bowling partner James Anderson led the pace attack with distinction and was consistently among the wickets with his steep bounce and prodigious seam movement. The left-hander was a very handy customer with the bat lower down the order.
Tearaway speedster Steve Finn was an out and out wicket taker in ODIs with his steaming pace and troublesome bounce. The powerfully built Finn could rack up some serious pace to outgun the best with the willow. Seamers - Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood and David Tilley chipped in with wickets to meaningfully contribute to their team’s cause. The end of the decade saw the emergence of a potent seam bowling strike weapon in Jofra Archer who rose to prominence with his fiery spells.
Adil Rashid And Moeen Ali Would Be Spin Twins
Moeen Ali could be a viable option to play the role of a spin all-rounder . Ali could play the pinch hitter’s role and even provide some electrifying starts opening the batting. He was quite effective lower down the order with his quick fire cameos. Ali was more than handy with playing the run container's role in white ball cricket.
Leg spinner Adil Rashid would be the front-runner for the wicket taking spinner's role for England in the ODIs . Rashid was a clever exponent at mixing his deliveries with his stock leg spin and picked up wickets in a heap to choke the opponent’s run flow in the middle.
Bits and Pieces cricketers like Ravi Bopara, James Tredwell and Luke Wright lent depth and balance to England’s one day team during the last decade.
England did enjoy the services of their Test stalwarts in James Anderson, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott and Graeme Swann who enjoyed a decent spell in white ball cricket too in the early part of the decade
England's BEST PROBABLE ODI XI (2010-2019)
Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes / Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Stuart Broad, Adil Rashid, Steve Finn
Notable Mentions: Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Alastair Cook, Andrew Strauss, James Anderson, Graeme Swann, Craig Kieswetter, Liam Plunkett, James Tredwell, James Taylor, Ravi Bopara , Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer
ENGLAND's ODI RECORD (2010-2019)
Played - 218
Won - 123
Win % - 56.4%
ENGLAND'S PERFORMANCE AT ICC WORLD CUPS
2019 - Champions, 2015 - Pool Stage, 2011 - Quarterfinals
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