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Dinesh Karthik has named the players he believes are currently among the best all-format cricketers, with Shubman Gill, Travis Head and Harry Brook making the cut. Karthik also had to choose between Rachin Ravindra and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the fourth spot.
The discussion came after Michael Atherton created a Venn diagram comparing the top 10 players across Test, ODI and T20 cricket. Interestingly, the analysis showed very little crossover between the three formats, highlighting how difficult it has become for players to maintain excellence across all forms of the game.
Michael Atherton builds Venn diagram for Top 10 cricketers
Michael Atherton explained the idea behind his Venn diagram while discussing the modern-day players who feature among the top 10 across Test, ODI and T20 cricket. The exercise showed a significant overlap between Test and ODI cricket, but very little crossover with T20Is.
"Because I built a Venn diagram of all things to try and show the difficulties of being excellent across formats. So we've taken the top 10 players in each of the formats: Test, ODI and T20, and the Venn diagram shows the crossover.
"Now there is a little bit, as you would imagine, a crossover between Test and ODI cricket. We've got Root, Shubman Gill, Daryl Mitchell, Babar Azam, who are in the top 10 of both Test and ODI rankings. But the crossover between Test and T20, there's only one player there: Harry Brook. So it suggests that the difference from Test cricket is bigger in T20 than it is in ODIs," Michael Atherton said on Sky Sports Cricket.
What surprises me most is there aren't anybody in ODI and T20 - Dinesh Karthik
Atherton then asked Dinesh Karthik whether he was surprised by the limited crossover between the different formats.
"Does that surprise you, first of all, how little crossover there is?", Michael Atherton asked Dinesh Karthik.
Karthik explained that the difference between Test and T20 cricket has grown significantly, while the reduced amount of ODI cricket has also made it harder for players to establish themselves across formats. Dinesh Karthik replied:
"Sadly, it doesn't surprise me because I'm connected with the game as a coach and I see there is a lot of difference between playing Test cricket and T20 cricket. He's an anomaly, Harry Brook. If you see the way he bats, it's interesting to note that he almost has a not similar tempo, but he's able to, you know, temper it a little bit, but his tempo is quite consistent across both the formats.
"What surprises me most is there aren't anybody in ODI and T20, which tells you the game is slowly drifting away between T20 format and the ODI format. Now this used to be a very normal path. If you're a good player, you'd find yourself in this slot between Test and ODI, but slowly and steadily even that is becoming harder because the amount of ODI cricket that seems to have been played is much lesser."
Dinesh Karthik picks world’s best all-format cricketers
When asked to pick the best three or four multi-format players in the current game, Dinesh Karthik named Gill, Head and Brook as his first three choices. He then picked between Ravindra and Jaiswal for the fourth spot, while pointing out the limited T20I involvement of some of his choices.
"If you put me on the spot and ask me, I would say Shubman Gill is there. I would definitely say Travis Head, he is there as well, and you have to say Harry Brook now, that goes without saying. And the fourth one would be a toss-up if we had to ask for a fourth, between Rachin Ravindra and Yashasvi Jaiswal, even though Yashaswi doesn't play T20 cricket, nor does Shubman Gill play T20 cricket for India," Dinesh Karthik said.
Rachin Ravindra vs Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Shubman Gill vs Travis Head vs Harry Brook - Full comparison
The numbers from the provided career statistics show why Dinesh Karthik had several strong options to choose from. Harry Brook has the highest Test average among the five at around 53.63, while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rachin Ravindra are also above 47.
Shubman Gill stands out particularly in ODI cricket. He has scored 3,379 runs in 66 innings, while his 10 not-outs give him an average of around 60.34. Travis Head has also been highly productive in ODIs, with 3,007 runs in 70 dismissals at an average of around 42.96.
| Player | Test | ODI | T20I |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shubman Gill | 3,043 runs, 77 inns | 3,379 runs, 66 inns | 869 runs, 36 inns |
| Travis Head | 4,653 runs, 114 inns | 3,007 runs, 76 inns | 1,335 runs, 51 inns |
| Harry Brook | 3,486 runs, 67 inns | 1,385 runs, 41 inns | 1,532 runs, 59 inns |
| Rachin Ravindra | 1,865 runs, 44 inns | 1,424 runs, 35 inns | 759 runs, 46 inns |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | 2,612 runs, 57 inns | 285 runs, 6 inns | 723 runs, 22 inns |
The comparison also underlines Atherton's point about the difficulty of excelling across all three formats. Head has the most Test runs among the five, Gill has the strongest ODI numbers, while Brook has already built a substantial record in both Test and T20I cricket.
For Dinesh Karthik, however, Gill, Head and Brook currently stand out from the rest, with Ravindra and Jaiswal competing for the final place.
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