The best ODI middle-order batsmen: Virat Kohli and Babar Azam battle it out in Tier 1 - Sport360 News

The advent of T20 cricket, flatter pitches and more powerplay restrictions over the years has had a considerable impact on how the ODI game is approached. As one of the chief architects behind Bangladesh’s improving ODI fortunes over the last few years, Mushfiqur Rahim is slowly inching towards greatness. Six of his seven ODI tons have come during this period with the right-hander joining Shakib Al Hasan as the only Bangladesh batsmen to have breached the 6,000-run barrier. An attacking and enterprising batsman by nature, Morgan sparked the revolution which culminated in England capturing a maiden World Cup title on home soil last year. While he is now approaching the tail-end of his international career, Faf du Plessis remains a force to be reckoned with in the ODI format. Six of his 12 ODI tons have come since the start of 2017 with the South Africa stalwart consistently featuring among the top batsmen in the format. The Pretoria man was surprisingly omitted from the South Africa squad for the recent ODI series against England, but he remains available for limited-overs duty after hanging up his Test boots. Given the lack of quality in the South Africa squad at the moment, du Plessis still has a huge part to play in the ODI format. He has an aesthetically pleasing technique and his career average of 54.18 suggests that he will end up breaking plenty of records by the time he retires. Now just seven centuries shy of overhauling Sachin Tendulkar’s world record of 49 tons, Kohli is well on his way to confirming his credentials as the all-time great of the 50-over format.