Australia, South Africa Were The Powerhouse Of ODI Cricket In Mid & Late 90s

Australia who turned into a combative force under the mantleship of charismatic leaders in Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh took over from the Windies as the dominant force in ODI cricket.

Australian Team With World Cup Trophy (Getty)

New Delhi: As a new decade unfolded in the 90s, the cricketing world looked upon eagerly with bated breaths as to who would succeed a weaning West Indian would team as the new world power in One Day International cricket.

There were never ending debates over who would take over as the next 'Master Blaster' from the destructive Calypso batting giant Vivian Richards and which team could boast of a fearsome pace battery like the mighty Windies. 

The decade kick started with a revolutionary tournament as coloured clothing and playing under lights in front of jam packed stadiums transformed the way the Cricket World Cup was played at the 1992 Benson and Hedges World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The Windies under Richie Richardson did manage to hold forte till the mid 90s but Australia and South Africa took over as the formidable powerhouse of ODI cricket in the later half of the decade. However a major turning point unfolded in middle of the decade when Sri Lanka stormed world cricket to shed their minnows tag and become World Champs at the 1996 World Cup.

While Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Mark Waugh and Inzamam-Ul Haq were in a constant battle for being dubbed as the best with the willow, Pakistan's legendary 2 'Ws', the McGrath-Lee duo, Proteas' Donald-Pollock pair and the Ambrose-Walsh Windies pace machine formed the most lethal pace batteries of that period. While sub-continent teams continued to rule the roost in the art of spin with wizards like Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan, the Australians had their own maestro of the craft in Shane Warne.

Brilliant fielders like Jonty Rhodes, Ricky Ponting, Herchelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds, Chris Harris, Shahid Afridi and Ajay Jadeja took fielding to another level and made it an integral facet of the limited overs format of the game.

To sum up the mid and late 90s in ODI cricket, the mighty Australia emerged as the dominant force, South Africa were a highly consistent outfit, Pakistan were an unpredictable but entertaining unit, India - the home tigers and Sri Lanka's phenomenal rise to the very top was the story that headlined one day cricket. While West Indies were still a force to reckon with, New Zealand and England competed hard against the big guns of ODI cricket. Zimbabwe who were the bashing boys in the early part of the decade turned into a competitive unit as the decade came to an end.

Here is a look at the top four uteams in ODI cricket during the 90s

1.AUSTRALIA

Australia who turned into a combative force under the mantleship of charismatic leaders in Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh took over from the Windies as the dominant force in ODI cricket. Led in different phases by two brilliant tacticians and inspirational leaders, the highly professional and never say die spirited Australian unit were the powerhouse of ODI cricket in the 90s and brought their A game to the fore at ICC tournaments.

While the foundations of a strong team were laid down by the likes of Mark Taylor, David Boon, Dean Jones and Craig McDermott in the first half of the decade, a ruthless batting lineup boasting of dashing openers in the elegant Mark Waugh and the destructive dasher Adam Gilchrist set the pace up the order in the later half of the decade.

A power packed solid middle order had the aggressive Ricky Ponting, the eye pleasing strokemaker Damien Martyn, the ice cool and gritty Steve Waugh and arguably the best finisher in the game in Michael Bevan in its ranks. The technically correct Ian Healy and Adam Gilchrist shared wicket-keeping duties for the most part of the mid and late 90s.

The Australian bowling attack was a semblance of world class seamers and a spin magician.While McGrath's disciplined bowling was the epitome of line and length, Brett Lee was arguably the fastest mean machine with thunderous pace. Damien Fleming could swing the ball to good effect while Jason Gillespe extracted seam movement off the deck. The likes of Paul Riefell, Micheal Kasprowicz and Andy Bichel were always among the wickets whenever called upon national duty. Medium pacers in Tom Moody, Steve Waugh and Brendon Julien added meat to the Aussies seam attack.

Spin wizard Shane Warne was their biggest match winner with the ball, running through batting lineups with his big drifting and turning leg spinners. Meanwhile, Mark Waugh and Daren Lehman were handy spin options too.

Australia Best ODI XI 1995-1999 - Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Steve Waugh, Micheal Bevan, Tom Moody, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie  and Glen McGrath

12th Man - Mark Taylor

Notable Mentions: Andrew Symonds, Ian Harvey, Darren Lehman

ODI Record - 1995-1999

Total Played -  120 Won - 68 Win% - 57%

Major Accomplishments: World Cup - Champions - 1999,  Finalist - 1996

2. SOUTH AFRICA

Making a much awaited comeback back into international cricket after a two decade long hiatus, South Africa did not take much time to catapult from a new entrant to a highly consistent outfit under the aegis of their iconic captain Hansie Cronje and tech-savvy coach Bob Woolmer. A well rounded Proteas unit proved to be an equal match to the Aussies in all facets of the game and were perhaps even a touch more consistent, only proving to be 'Chokers' at major ICC events.

While the foundations of a strong South African team were laid by Jimmy Cook, Peter Kristen and Kepler Wessels; the work-horse opener in Gary Kristen, the ever dependable and 'Mr. Consistent' Jacques Kallis, eye pleasing strokemaker Daryll Cullinan and attacking strokemakers in Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhoes made up a solid batting lineup.

However, It was their pace quartet of the fast and furious 'White Lightning' Allan Donald, the highly economical Shaun Pollock, the unorthodox slinger Fanie De Villiers and Brian McMillan which proved to be their game changing weapon in the later half of the decade. Pat Symcox was the lone spinner in a pace heavy attack. Meanwhile seamers like Craig Matthews,Steve Elworthy, Richard Snell and Hansie Cronje made notable contributions with the ball

World class all-rounders in Jacques Kallis, Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock were South Africa's strength all through the decade and their balance and depth was unmatchable. The Proteas were the most athletic team on the green turf and took fielding to another level courtesy their live wire Jonty Rhodes whose acrobatic diving and spectacular catching was a treat to watch in the 90s. Rhodes, Gibbs, Crookes and McMillan to name a few..made the 'Green and Gold' brigade the best all-round fielding units in ODI cricket.

South Africa Best ODI XI in Mid and Late 90s - Gary Kristen, Andrew Hudson, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock, Pat Symcox, Allan Donald

12th Man - Fanie De Villiers

Notable Mentions: Brian McMillan, Craig Matthews, Andrew Hudson and Kepler Wessels

SA ODI Record In 90s

Played -109, Won - 82 Win% - 75%

Major Achievements

ICC World Cup - 1996 - Quarterfinals, 1999- Semifinal

ICC Champions Trophy: 1998 - Winner

3.PAKISTAN

If one day international teams were to be judged by a benchmark of sheer talent, skill and cricketing pedigree, then the enigmatic yet electrifying Pakistan of the 90s was undoubtedly a cut above the rest.Such were the luxuries of superlative cricketing talents at their disposal in the 90s that the Pakis did not  miss two of their greatest stalwarts of the 80s in Imran Khan and Javed Miandad who bid adieu to the sports in the 90s.

Batting talents poured in a plenty with with the flamboyant and wristy left handed batsman Saeed Anwar who opened the batting with his aggressive opening partner Aamir Sohail. The Pakis middle order has a dangerous look to it with the supremely talented Inzamam Ul Haq, aggressive Ijaz Ahmed and a cool and calm customer in Saleem Malik.

The Pakistani pace attack was a lethal bowling armoury which turned around many nail biting  games for them with fiery match winning spells. The deadly trio of the highly versatile Wasim Akram, Swing King Waqar Younis and nippy Aaqib Javed sent down chills in the spines and it became even more menacing with the inclusion of the tearaway seamer Shoaib Akhtar towards the end of the decade.

Pakistan's spin attack was equally potent with world class tweakers in the bubbly leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed and the prolific wicket taking off spinner Saqlain Mushtaq and Shahid Afridi quickish legspin .Azhar Mahmood,Adbul Razzaq and the enigmatic Shahid Afridi did a fine job with their all-round heroics.

Acrobatic glovesmen Moin Khan and Rashid Latif shared the wicket-keeping duties for most of the decade. Such was the quality of the First XI that highly talented cricketers like Basit Ali, Saleem Elahi and did not get a consistent look in and often warmed the bench.

PAK BEST ODI XI From 1995-1999- Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Ijaz Ahmed, Inzamam Ul Haq, Saleem Malik, Moin Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Shoiab Akhtar

12th Man - Shahid Afridi

Notable Mentions - Basit Ali, Asif Mujtaba, Shahid Nazir,Akram Raza

ODI Record In Mid And Late 90s

Played - 149 Won - 79 Win% - 53

Major Achievements: World Cup - Finalist - 99, Quarterfinal - 1996

4.INDIA

India were a formidable force at home courtesy a power packed batting unit which was spearheaded by 'Master Blaster' Sachin Tendulkar, the most accomplished strokemaker and prolific run scorer of that era. After the Shastri Srikanth opening duo retired from ODI cricket , batting icon Tendulkar formed a lethal opening pair with elegant left-hander Sourav Ganguly, which formed the backbone of their batting order for much of the decade.

The rock solid and ever dependable run accumulator Rahul Dravid made the No.3 his own position followed by the wristy Mohammad Azharuddin  who played the sheet anchor's role to perfection at 4. There were flashes of brilliance by the talented yet enigmatic mavericks in Navjot Singh Sidhu and Vinod Kambli. Ajay Jadeja and Robin Singh won many matches for India courtesy their cool temperament and ability to play match winning cameos  in some nerve racking situations.

While Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar were India's go to new ball pair in the early 90s, the Karnataka pace duo of Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad formed a pretty handy pace attack  for the rest of the decade. The lanky but extremely nippy Ajit Agarkar made an emphatic entry into the ODI team with a flurry of wickets at the fag end of the decade.

Spin was always India's traditional strength with the ball and it was their unorthodox but highly effective leg spinner Anil Kumble who proved to be their biggest match winner with the ball. 'Jumbo' was lent good support by Venkatapathy Raju, Sunil Joshi and Rajesh Chauhan. Nayan Mongia, India's frontline glovesman was clinical behind the stumps and made handy contributions with the willow.

India Best Playing XI (1995-1999)- Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja, Robin Singh, Nayan Mongia, Javagal Srinath, Anil Kumble, Sunil Joshi, Venkatesh Prasad

12th Man - Ajit Agarkar

Notable Mentions: Debashish Mohanty, Navjot Sidhu, Vinod Kambli, Nikhil Chopra

ODI RECORD - 1995-1999

 Played - 166,  Won - 75, Win% - 46

World Cup - 1996 - Semi Finalist

ICC Champions Trophy: 1998 Semis