players who achieved No-1 ICC ranking in all formats

Players who achieved No-1 ICC ranking in all formats:- The Ranking system in the sport of cricket was initially been introduced for test cricket and One-day Internationals only by ICC which is the topmost governing body of the sport around the world. This has been done in order to honour the players who have consistently performed on the cricket field with their impeccable performances in either batting, bowling or fielding in a given calendar year.

With the introduction of the T2o cricket, ICC did think about its inclusion for the ranking purpose initially but it was only after the immense popularity of the format, it finally got included in the points-based ranking system. Over the years, there have been numerous players who got to stand at the top of the ranking podium for their impressive run in the world of cricket in a given year. Still, there have been just a few of the instances, when a player has been ranked on top for all the three formats of the game. Whilst we talking about the same, let’s take a look at the players who achieved the No1 ranking in all the three formats (Test, ODI and T20) in a given year.

Virat Kohli (India)

The way Kohli has batted in the past few years, we can certainly regard him as the best batsman of this era and there is hardly any record, which this player hasn’t achieved during his decade long career in International cricket. He plays for Delhi in the Domestic cricket and so far amassed more than 10000 runs in ODI cricket along with more than 6000 runs in the longer version of the game. Also, he has been the second player only with the most number of centuries under his name ( 41 in ODI and 25 in Test cricket )

On the other side, Virat Kohli is also the only player on the planet to carry an average of around 50 in all three formats in the past few years. He is currently the top player in both Test and ODI cricket. Talking about his ranking in the T20 format, he held the top spot a few months back but due to his focus on test and ODI for his country, he missed some of the T20 matches in the recent times. Currently, he is the captain of the Indian team in all the three formats and he is one of the main reasons why the Indian team is currently on top of the Test rankings by ICC. Kohli is largely been applauded and appreciated by cricket fans from almost every country and such is the popularity of this prolific player in the cricket world right now.

Ricky Ponting ( Australia)

You can’t really conclude the list of the best batsman of all times if you haven’t included Ricky Ponting in that Elite list. During his two-decades-long career in the International cricket, this player has impressed everyone with his perfect technique and batting skills along with his sheer dominance with the bat on any given day. That was the reason he has been able to amass 13,378 runs in the test format along with 13,704 runs in the ODI cricket alongside.

With a total of 71 centuries under his belt in the International cricket, he has dominated the world of cricket for good ten years in his career. Moreover, his century against the Indian team in the finals of the World cup 2007 has been adjudged as one of the best ever knock in a world cup finals by the cricket pundits around. Also, he has been the only cricketer on the planet to achieve the feat of topping all the three formats in the same year. Ponting did achieve this in the year 2005/06 which has also been quoted as the golden year of his cricketing career.

Apart from his batting skills, he has been a handy bowler and grabbed some crucial wickets for his team on many occasions. Additionally, he has been the most successful captains for the Australian team till date and been the only player after Clive Lloyd from West Indies, to have won the cricket world cup twice under his captaincy. Such has been his prowess in the cricket world that it was once been assumed by cricket fans that “ Ponting carries an Aluminum bat during batting “.

Matthew Hayden (Australia)

Hayden has been the second Australian player in our list and quite possibly, the most threatening name for the bowler of his era. Even though made his debut quite late in the International cricket, Hayden has made his mark in the world of cricket with his impactful batting and sublime hitting. Talking about his record, Hayden has scored more than 40 hundred with over 16000 runs to his name in 103 tests, 161 ODI and 9 T20I played for his team in the process.

Hayden was also the first person to break the record of the highest score in test cricket set by West Indian player Brian Lara when he scored 380 runs against Zimbabwe in Perth. Although the record was once again been overcome by the West Indian legend, Hayden kept going with his dominance in all the three formats for the Australian team. Playing for the Queensland team in the Australian Domestic cricket, Hayden made a late entry into the Aussie team due to the presence of Big names Like Mark Waugh, Justin langer and Simon Katich.

It was only after Waugh retired that he finally got to make his debut in the test cricket and once started, he never looked back again for the rest of his career. Hayden once carried a “Mongoose” bat during one of the matches in the IPL (Indian premier league) and he thrashed almost every bowler with that tiny, yet powerful stick, in the process. Talking about his rankings in all the three formats, Hayden achieved the same feat in three different years and even when he hung up his boots in 2012, he was still amongst the most ruthless batsman in the world of cricket.

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