Ajinkya Rahane picks all-time underrated ODI XI amid NZ vs IND 2026 series; includes one CSK star among 2 Indians

Former Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane has picked his all-time underrated ODI XI ahead of the New Zealand-India five-match series (via Cricbuzz). Rahane picked South Africa’s Graeme Smith and New Zealand’s Nathan Astle as his two openers.

Smith made 6,989 runs in 197 ODIs at 37.98 with 10 hundreds and 47 fifties, and captained South Africa in 149 of those matches, so his value sat as much in the tempo he set at the top as in the runs themselves. Astle finished with 7,090 runs in 223 ODIs at 34.92 and 16 centuries, along with 99 wickets, which allowed New Zealand to pick an extra specialist bowler.

Suresh Raina is the first of the two Indians, at No. 3, with Aravinda de Silva behind him at No. 4. De Silva is arguably the most accomplished batter in this XI: 9,284 runs in 308 ODIs at 34.90, with 11 centuries, 64 fifties, along with 106 wickets.

At No. 5 came Mark Boucher, who kept in 295 ODIs and finished with 424 dismissals, 402 catches and 22 stumpings, while making 4,686 runs at 28.57 from the lower middle order. No. 6 is Andrew Flintoff, whose 141 ODIs produced 3,394 runs at 32.01 and 169 wickets at 24.06, a seam-bowling all-rounder good enough to bat in the top six. Robin Singh, the second Indian in Rahane’s 11, comes in at No. 7.

At No. 8 comes Daniel Vettori, who took 305 wickets in 295 ODIs at 31.71 and scored 2,253 runs. Graeme Swann’s 104 wickets came in only 79 ODIs at 27.76, while Shane Bond’s 82 ODIs brought 147 wickets at 20.88, including 6 for 23 against Australia at the 2003 World Cup.

Chaminda Vaas reached 400 wickets in 322 ODIs at 29.40, and his 8 for 19 against Zimbabwe in 2001 was then the best return in the format’s history as he rounds off Rahane’s underrated ODI 11.

Ajinkya Rahane’s all-time underrated ODI XI

Graeme Smith, Nathan Astle, Suresh Raina, Aravinda de Silva, Mark Boucher, Andrew Flintoff, Robin Singh, Daniel Vettori, Graeme Swann, Shane Bond, Chaminda Vaas

Raina and Robin Singh: the two Indians on Rahane’s list

Suresh Raina’s case rests on volume and range. In 226 ODIs, he made 5,615 runs at 35.31 with five centuries and 36 fifties at a strike rate of 93.5, and his 36 wickets came from the part-time spin India used whenever a surface turned. He batted at three, four, five, and six at different stages, and was part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.

Meanwhile, Robin Singh made his ODI debut in 1989, drifted out of the picture, and did not hold a place until his early thirties, in a side that needed someone to hit spin into the gaps and bowl left-arm medium pace through the middle overs. He finished with 2,331 runs in 136 ODIs at 25.89 and 69 wickets, figures that undersell a role India had struggled to fill before him.

Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran