ODIs have been on the backseat in 2021 and 2022 because the other two formats took precedence of the attention of all the teams, owing to the back-to-back T20 World Cups in the last two years and the ever-present competitive World Test Championship.
Now, with 2023 including an ODI World Cup, the 50-over format will be ahead in priority of players who play multi-formats.
2022 ends with New Zealand topping the ICC men’s ODI team rankings followed by England, Australia, India, and Pakistan.
In this article, we will look at the best players in ODIs in 2022. (We will only consider players from Full Member nations.)
Here is the best ODI XI of 2022:
Openers: Shai Hope, Imam-ul-Haq
West Indies opener Shai Hope ends the year as the top-scoring ODI opener – and second overall – among full members, with 709 runs in 21 knocks, though his strike rate of 74 came under a bit of criticism, especially in modern white-ball cricket. Hope struck 3 centuries and 2 fifties in ODIs this year.
Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq batted in only 8 ODI innings this year, but the left-handed opener amassed 505 runs at a terrific average of 72 and strike rate of 94, knocking down 2 centuries and 4 half-centuries.
Middle-order: Babar Azam, Steve Smith, Shreyas Iyer
Pakistan captain and number 3 Babar Azam continued his marvelous form across formats. In ODIs this year, Azam scored 679 runs in only 9 ODIs, at an outstanding average of 84 and strike rate of 90 with the help of 3 centuries and 5 fifties.
Ousted from the T20I side of Australia, Steve Smith bossed the ODIs in 2022: 539 runs at a stunning average of 67, notching up 4 fifties to go with one century.
Among full-member nations, Shreyas Iyer is the top-scorer in ODI cricket in 2022. Still a fringe player in Indian ODI side, Iyer had a superb year, wherein he made a strong case to be selected in the best ODI XI for India: Iyer scored 724 runs in 15 ODI innings at an average of 55 and strike rate of 91. Iyer raised 1 ODI ton and 6 fifties in the format.
Wicket-keeper: Jos Buttler (c, wk)
Getting the full-time captaincy of England’s white-ball teams from Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler flourished with the bat too, and in his characteristic aggressive manner: Buttler hammered 403 runs in only 9 ODI innings at a strike rate of 122. Even batting at a lower position, Buttler managed a best of 162*.
All-rounders: Sikandar Raza, Mehidy Hasan Miraz
Veteran Zimbabwe player Sikandar Raza had a dream year in 2022, which was capped by an IPL contract. In ODIs this year, Raza carried Zimbabwe averaging 49 with the bat, hitting 3 centuries and 2 fifties in 15 knocks, and took 8 wickets while bowling at a tight economy of 5.03.
Mehidy was arguably the best-performing ODI all-rounder in 2022. Ranked 3rd in ICC ODI all-rounders rankings, Mehidy scored 330 runs at an average of 66, including hitting his maiden ODI century, vs India, and also against the same opposition pulling off a miraculous run-chase while partnering with the number 11 batter. The off-spinner also took 24 wickets in the year in ODIs.
Bowlers: Alzarri Joseph, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Siraj
Among pacers from Full Member nations, West Indies’ Alzarri Joseph took the most ODI wickets in 2022 – 27 wickets in 17 ODIs at an average of 25 and keeping a frugal economy of 4.61 – followed by India’s Mohammed Siraj who snapped 24 wickets in 15 ODIs at 23 apiece.
Adam Zampa was arguably the best leg-spinner among Full Member countries with 30 wickets in only 12 ODIs an enviable average of 17.
