Top 5 Cricketers Who Played With Most Number Of Different Players In International Cricket

International cricket has seen many cricketers over the years playing for over or close two decades of international cricket. Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam Ul Haq, are names who have played for over two decades for their countries and brought a lot of accolades in the process. then there are a few others like Rahul Dravid, Kumar Sangakkara who played a few less than two decades but played with the most number of international cricketers throughout their career. 

In this article, we take a look at five cricketers who played with the most number of international cricketers throughout their careers.

Top 5 Cricketers Who Played With Most Number Of Different Players 

5) Rahul Dravid (India/Asia XI/ICC World XI): 134 players

At number five in this list is former Indian skipper Rahul Dravid. Overall he played 509 international matches (340 ODIs 163 Tests and only T20I) and scored 24208 international runs. He also played for Asia XI ( 1 ODI) and ICC World XI (three ODIs and 1 Test). 

In the process, he played with 134 different players throughout his career. He was at his peak between 2000-2005 under Sourav Ganguly‘s captaincy where he played at number three in ODIs and also kept wickets for India regularly.

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4) Shoaib Malik (Pakistan/ICC World XI): 136 players

The former Pakistan skipper played with 136 different cricketers since making his debut in 1999. He scored 11753 runs and also picked up 218 wickets across formats. 

Malik has played 435 international matches – 35 Tests, 287 ODIs, and 113 T20Is, including one T20I for ICC World XI. He is among the top scorers in Pakistan cricket. 

3) Sachin Tendulkar (India): 141 players

His career spanned 24 years between 1989-2013. He announced his retirement after playing 200 Test matches for India and scoring the most number of runs in Test and ODI cricket. He played 664 international matches overall (200 Tests, 464 ODIs).

During his career, he played with 141 different players. He saw many youngsters make his debut after him and retire before him. A few of his former teammates like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag are on that list.

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2) Chris Gayle (West Indies/ICC World XI): 145 players

The Universe Boss is among the few active cricketers who are still playing having made his debut before 2000. he made his debut in 1999 and is still playing international cricket. He is setting sights on winning the T20 World Cup for Windies and retiring from the game once and for all. 

Throughout his career so far, Gayle has played for West Indies and ICC World XI teams. He played with 145 different cricketers in the meantime. He has already played 462 international matches (103 Tests, 301 ODIs, and 58 T20Is) including three ODIs for World XI. Gayle has scored 19321 runs so far. 

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1) Shahid Afridi (Pakistan/Asia XI/ICC World XI): 151 players

In his 22-year long international career, Shahid Afridi has played with 151 different cricketers. This remains the most in this elite list of cricketers. Afridi’s career spanned from 1996-2018 where he played all across the globe. 

He played 518 international matches for Pakistan (27 Tests, 393 ODIs, and 98 T20Is), the most by any. Apart from that, he played three ODIs each for Asia XI and ICC World XI taking his tally to 524 international games. Afridi ended his career with 11196 international runs (average 23.57) and 541 international wickets.

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