Pathan was declared an all rounder. OK he played some knocks.
Today Bret Lee was posed as an all-rounder in VB series final. Now that was stupid. Who decides all this? Rana is better with bat than Lee at least and he is still declared a bowler. Similarly Akhter must be an all-rounder as he has played some 30-40 innings. Same applies to Bhaa-G. Dhoni can also be declared as an all-rounder as he can bowl as well and keep an averager that is better than many regular bowlers. ( Dhoni is a keeper as well, so what he will be called.
So what makes an all rounder??? and who actually declares a plyer as an all-rounder? Why Rana is not an all-rounder???
When it is time to face the music, almost each and every team allow their tulleybaaz players wear the label of an all-rounder, and then snatch it the moment they see the mouth of defeat. Of course, when the same team goes onto win, the same tulleybaaz becomes hero overnight.
theres only 1 all rounder in the world right now, and that is Andrew Freddie Flintoff! when the team needs a wicket they hand him the ball, when the team is facing a batting collapse he changes the course! Afridi's bowling has gone down and plus the consistency level isnt there yet, in terms of both bat and ball!
In ODI's many players have matches for their respective countries with both bat and ball so there are too many all rounders in the ODI's. Andrew Symonds, Vetori, Shoaib Malik, Razzaq, Afridi, Dhoni. Even Tendulkar and Ganguly have performed well at times with the ball as well as scoring runs. The true mattle of the all rounder comes in test cricket and in that regards Andrew Flintoff is the only true all rounder. Another person I respect highly is South Africa's Shaun Pollock. His ability with the ball is no secret but he has played many valuable innings for his team as well. Afridi is not a threatning bowler in tests and not a very dependable batsman either, Razzaq have shone off and on but not really on consistent basis. Off current international players I think Razzaq and Pathan both have the ability to turn into good all rounders, at the moment though FLintoff is it, Kallis doesnt really count in my books anyways. He seems to selfish of a cricketer. People say Sachin and Lara play for records, but I dont think any one cares about the record and averages as much as Kallis does, it seems like his record comes first and teams interest comes after that for him.
an allrounder should be a player whose batting average is higher than his bowling average...and in that respect i don't think Kapil Dev makes it to that list
Wannabe allrounders include (or have included): Vettori, Abdul Razzaq, Wasim Akram, Alex Tudor, Bret Lee, Irfan Pathan, Shoaib Malik, Klusener, Brian MacMillan, Chris Harris, etc etc
in present day cricket, a proper allrounder would be:
Kallis, Flintoff...and im sorry to say thats about it...
although world cricket did miss 2 potentially awesome allrounders due to South Africa's ban...Eddie Barlow and Mike Procter
Proper Allrounders are really a rare find...and any team that has a proper allrounder has a distinct advantage over others...
An all rounder is a player which can justify his selection in the side on the basis of either JUST batting or JUST bowling. That definition disqualifies most of the ODI bits and pieces players who are selected for the overall package.
Ok, its a debatable topic, lets create some thumb rules and see who all fit in...
Test
Batting Average of = 30+
Bowling Average of = Below 35
ODI
Batting Average = 25+
Bowling Average = Below 35
You must be either oldish or have a keen cricket memory. They were good but even better were most probably Clive Rice. Clive made South Africa’s “test” teams purely as either a bowler or batsman. And don’t throw his captaincy away either…
Clive Rice participated in threecompetitions for all-rounders in the 1970’s which included Khan, Dev, etc. and he won three times in a row.
Ironically South Africa twice had similar competiions at home and the person who beat Kallis, Klusener, etc. was Shaun Pollock. Many people feel he has much greater talent as a batsman than what he attained. Maybe now that his bowling speed is reduced he should concentrate more on his batsmanship and become a full blown all-rounder…
Dhoni is a keeper as well, so what he will be called.