Worst: One could say that being an international cricketer is like being the cream of the crop. It’s no mean feat to represent your country; that takes tremendous talent, effort, tenacity, and good fortune. If you do good and deliver according to your expectations, you become an overnight sensation in cricket. However, a few players couldn’t do much on the international platform or quite frankly, couldn’t do justice to their skills, thus achieving a certain level of infamy. Plain bad luck, you would suppose. In this article, let’s look at some of the international cricketers with the most unflattering of statistics.
List of Worst International cricketers of all time
1 Chamu Chibhabha
An all-round batsman for Zimbabwe, Chamu Chibhabha comes at number one on the list of the worst cricketer in the world. He made his ODI debut in 2005 versus New Zealand. His statistics in international cricket are confusing. Chamu participated in nearly 150 international games but has scored only 3,209 runs.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 3/107/36 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 124/2418/667 |
2 Nasir Jamshed
The Pakistani opening batsman Nasir Jamshed was always the subject of considerable hype. He takes the second position on our list of the worst cricketer in the world. His test average is under 15, and below 32 in ODIs and T20Is.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 2/48/18 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 51/1418/363 |
3 James Franklin
James Franklin, a bowling all-rounder from New Zealand who played above 150 international games, averaging less than 20 runs with the bat across all formats. He performed much better at the domestic level, scoring 9780 runs in 206 FC games. However, at the game’s highest level, he could not make an impact. The reason why he is among the worst cricket player in the world.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 31/110/38 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 808/1270/463 |
4 Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra made his debut for India in a Test match against New Zealand in 2003. He was regarded as a traditional opener who rose to the top tier after giving outstanding first-class performances.
His international performances, however, fell short of expectations. Chopra participated in 10 tests, scoring 23 on average. His flaws were quickly made clear to the bowlers. His extremely brief international tenure ended when the selectors ignored him due to his inconsistent performances.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 10/0/0 |
| Wickets: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 437/0/0 |
5 Hamish Rutherford
Rutherford had an international career of 16 Tests, 4 ODIs, and 8 T20s. In all three formats, he had a scoring average below 25. The New Zealand opening batsman scored 7461 runs after playing 119 FC games, but his international cricket performances weren’t up to the mark.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 16/4/8 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 755/15/151 |
6 Chamara Kapugedera
Chamara Kapugedera is considered one of the few disappointments in Sri Lankan cricket. It might be that his luck didn’t favor him or maybe something else. But, his records in ODI will put him on the list of worst cricket players in the world.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 8/102/43 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 418/1624/703 |
7 Kieran Powell
Known for his belligerent batting, West Indies’s Powell impressed everyone in the beginning but failed to perform consistently. He participated in 44 Tests, 46 ODIs, and 1 T20I, averaging 25.8, 22.8, and 12.0, respectively.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 44/46/1 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 2113/1005/12 |
8 Mick Lewis
Australian bowler Mick Lewis made his international debut versus New Zealand in 2005. In 82 FC games, he took 266 wickets. However, his international appearances were essentially non-existent. Lewis grabbed just 4 and 7 wickets in 2 ODIs and 7 tests, respectively.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 7/2/0 |
| Wickets: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 7/4/0 |
9 Suruj Ragoonath
West Indian batsman Suruj Ragoonath made his team debut against Australia in 1999. In 66 FC games, he scored 3261 runs, which is considered good. However, he only participated in 2 Tests and scored 13 runs.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 2/0/0 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 13/0/0 |
10 Sajid Ali
Sajid Ali was one of the big and popular names in domestic cricket, who entered the Pakistani international cricket team in 1984. However, due to his fitness issues and multiple injuries, he could only play 13 ODIs in his cricketing career, scoring 130 runs in total.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 0/13/0 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 0/130/0 |
11 Shaun Udal
Due to his brief career—11 ODIs—many people may not be familiar with this spinner from England, who debuted in 1994. Shaun Udal performed so admirably on the domestic circuit that he was called up for international duty. After bowling 612 balls, Shaun Udal only claimed 9 wickets for an English cricket team.
His contribution as a batsman is also not outstanding; in a short career of 7 innings, he only managed to score 35 runs.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 0/11/0 |
| Wickets: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 0/9/0 |
12 Rohan Gavaskar
Rohan Gavaskar is the son of legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar. In 117 FC games, Rohan scored 6,938 runs. However, his international career never took off. Selectors dropped him off from the Indian team after a mere 11 ODIs.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 0/11/0 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 0/151/0 |
13 Taijul Islam
Bangladeshi left-arm orthodox spinner Taijul Islam is the only player in an international game with a hat-trick and an eight-wicket haul. His first-class stats are impressive, having claimed 359 wickets overall in 84 FC games. But, when it came to showcasing his skills on the international platform, he failed miserably. Taijul could bag only 12 wickets in 9 ODI games.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 35/9/2 |
| Wickets: Tests/ODIs/T20Is | 144/12/1 |
14 Rod Marsh
Rod Marsh, who made over 11,000 runs in 257 FC games, was a first-class cricket legend. He quickly excelled as a wicketkeeper. However, his batting results fell short of expectations on the international platform. He was kept on the Australian team for too long simply because no alternative keepers were available.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs | 96/92 |
| Runs: Tests/ODIs/T20s | 3633/1225/0 |
15 Dion Ebrahim
Deon Abrahim was a Zimbabwean batsman who had fantastic statistics in domestic cricket because of which he got a national call-up. However, when it came to delivering results, he couldn’t do much. In his short career of 36 matches, he could score only 386 runs.
| Matches: Tests/ODIs | 0/36 |
| Wickets: Tests/ODIs | 0/286 |