Ravindra Jadeja is currently ranked the world’s Number 1 ODI bowler (jointly with Sunil Narine) according to the ICC’s official player rankings. This ranking says more about the current weakness in ODI bowling than it does about the quality of Jadeja’s bowling. Over the last 23 years, the top ranked bowler has been rating at least 800 on average, and closer to 900 in the early 2000s. During this period the ratings were dominated by Glenn McGrath, Shaun Pollock and Muttiah Muralitharan. In the early 1990s they were dominated by Wasim Akram and Curtly Ambrose.
Since 2008, the top ranked ODI bowler has more often than not had a rating under 750. This decline in the top ODI bowlers rating coincides with two developments – the rise of franchise based T20 cricket, and the advent of the batting powerplay. The batting powerplay has resulted in the contest being skewed in favor of the bat even further by increasing the number of overs in which bowlers are restricted in the way they can set fields.
Jadeja is part of a larger trend in the ODI game.
