20 Most Handsome Cricketers in the World 2017

A batsman of breathtaking chutzpah and enterprise. A cricketer with overflowing talent and the temperament to back it up. A fielder able to leap tall buildings and still come up with the catch - and who will happily move behind the stumps into the wicketkeeper's spot if needed. A fine rugby player, golfer, and tennis player. AB de Villiers has emerged as one of South Africa's greats.

A typical modern-day cricketer, Virat Kohli plays his game aggressively, bares his emotions loudly in public, yet retains the element of maturity that forms an integral part of every good and great player. Anil Kumble said he had thought hard before calling Kohli the best under-22 player in international cricket - that would rate as perhaps the best compliments he has received. It is also proof of Kohli's transformation as a player.

Eoin Morgan ascended to the England one-day captaincy in slightly chaotic circumstances less than two months out from the 2015 World Cup and was less than enamoured with an entirely inadequate campaign. What he observed convinced him more than ever that an entirely new approach was necessary in England's limited-overs cricket with a policy of No Fear (and for that matter No Retribution) at its heart. It required a man of strong will not just to say it, but to implement it, but Morgan did so, seeking to fashion a side that would play with courage and be impervious to pressure or criticism.

There is almost no role in a cricket side that Shoaib Malik hasn't filled, so much so that over ten years into his career, nobody is sure what his precise and best role is.

Steven Smith started his Test career as a legspinner who batted at No.8; by the time he was named Australia's captain five years later, he was the No.1 Test batsman in the world and no more than an occasional bowler. Smith's talent was apparent early, but as a young batsman he had more moving parts than an orchestra, only they didn't always work in harmony. He went away and worked on his game and returned to the Test side two years later with a much tighter technique. He still fidgeted between balls but could play every shot in the book, and a few more that defied words besides. Smith is quick-footed and adept at facing spin, but is equally comfortable driving and pulling the fast bowlers.

Scary eyes, throbbing veins and a chainsaw celebration have all made Dale Steyn South Africa's most feared fast bowler. Extreme pace, the ability to swing the ball both ways, and accuracy have perhaps made him the country's best ever. At the peak of his powers, Steyn possessed a lithe and wiry body, a steaming run-up that culminated in a aerodynamic action, and a ripper of an outswinger.

Barring Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni is arguably the most popular and definitely the most scrutinised cricketer from India. He has done so coming from the cricketing backwaters, the mining state of Jharkhand, and through a home-made batting and wicketkeeping technique, and a style of captaincy that scales the highs and lows of both conservatism and unorthodoxy. Under Dhoni's captaincy, India have won the top prize in all formats: the No.1 Test ranking for 18 months starting December 2009, the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the World Twenty20 on his captaincy debut in 2007.

Brash, brutal and brilliant to watch, Brendon McCullum can bruise bowling attacks like few other men in international cricket. A wicketkeeper-batsman, McCullum has been used throughout the New Zealand batting order, but whenever he arrives at the crease it's impossible to look away. He muscles balls over both sides of the field and was responsible for getting the IPL off to an electrifying start, lighting up the tournament's first match with 158 and showing what the format had to offer. And he reprised that style in Tests too - striking the fastest century in the format's history in his final match.

When all is well with Yuvraj Singh, he hits the ball as clean and long as it has ever been hit. When all is not well, he looks so awkward you forget he can hit the ball clean and long. All has been well with Yuvraj more often in limited-overs cricket, where he can be effortless and brutal at the same time, than in Tests, though his form and consistency has been on the decline since his comeback following a recovery from a rare form of germ cell cancer in 2012.

James Anderson has proved himself as one of the most skilful and prolific fast bowlers in England's history. His talents have been particularly apparent in Test cricket where his command of swing bowling, especially on his home grounds, has been the stuff of artistry, bearing comparison with any swing bowler in any age. He has been an integral part of three victorious Ashes campaigns and became the first England bowler to take 400 Test wickets, surpassing Ian Botham's previous benchmark of 383. His one-day career has also been more productive than at one time seemed likely as he gradually became adept at bowling in a more defensive fashion.

A thrusting Jamaican left-hander, Gayle earned himself a black mark on his first senior tour - to England in 2000 - where the new boys were felt to be insufficiently respectful of their elders. But a lack of respect, for opposition bowlers at least, has served Gayle well since then. Tall and imposing at the crease, he loves to carve through the covers off either foot, and has the ability to decimate the figures of even the thriftiest of opening bowlers. And in this era of Twenty20 cricket, Gayle is the batsman who has thrived like no other.

Quinton de Kock's fearless striking and handy glovework have earned him comparisons to greats of the game like Adam Gilchrist and Mark Boucher, early in his career. By 21, de Kock shared the record for the most successive ODI centuries - three - before it was bettered by Kumar Sangakkara. A year later, he had established himself in all three formats.

To conquer international cricket, Shane Watson first had to beat his fragile body. Despite boasting an athletic figure made for photo shoots, Watson's frame was so brittle it threatened to break him. He refused to give up. Not through recurrences of back stress fractures, hamstring strains, calf problems, hip complaints, a dislocated shoulder or a suspected heart attack that turned out to be food poisoning. He changed his training, preferring pilates to weights, gave up alcohol, but not his dream. It finally paid off in 2009, when he was chosen as a Test opener in the middle of the Ashes series.

Dwayne Bravo is that creature long needed by West Indies, an allrounder with plenty of flair and skill both as a batsman and seam bowler. Unfortunately for West Indies, they haven't been able to utilise his services as often as they probably would have liked to: till the end of 2013, more than nine years since his Test debut, he had played only 40 out of West Indies' 81 Tests in the same period. Prioritising IPL over international cricket has led to differences with the board, while injuries have also limited his Test appearances, but as a limited-overs player Bravo remains a key member for West Indies and took over from Darren Sammy as ODI captain in 2013. He held the post till December 2014, when the selectors replaced him with Jason Holder and left him out of the ODI side, two months after he had played a central role in the team pulling out mid-way from a tour to India due to issues with the payment structure in their revised contracts.

Ahmed Shehzad aims to be an aggressive batsman like Ricky Ponting, and he is well on his way if his top-order performances for Pakistan Under-19s are any indication. Shehzad made his first-class debut in January 2007, just two months after his 15th birthday, and has since established himself as an opening batsman for the U-19 team. His 167 in the same year helped Pakistan chase down a stiff 342 in the first Youth Test against England in Derby. He backed that up with impressive performances at home, scoring 315 runs - with a highest of 105 - as Australia Under-19s were thrashed 5-0. Another century followed in the Youth Test against Bangladesh, and he carried that form into the triangular tournament in Sri Lanka in 2008, which Pakistan won.

Shikhar Dhawan stunned all observers, and Australia, when he stroked his way to the fastest Test century by a debutant. That debut, in Mohali in 2012-13, came to Dhawan in his ninth year of first-class cricket after he had been written off by almost everybody, not least because India's opening combination had been fixed to the most prolific combination in their Test history: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

Ben Stokes' powerful frame, aggressive intent with bat and ball and energy in the field has encouraged the belief that he will grow into one of the most renowned allrounders in England's history. There is not a challenge that he doesl not relish and, if at times his batting can appear naïve or his bowling can be exposed on sedate pitches, his combative instincts and crowd-pleasing nature never wavers.

With his relentless aggression, strong wrists and natural timing, Tillakaratne Dilshan is one of the most exciting batsmen in the game today. He is technically sound, but, much like Virender Sehwag, he uses the defensive option only as a last resort, after all the attacking alternatives have been explored. He loves to make room and thrash the ball through the off side, but the stroke that bears his signature more than any other is the one he developed for the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 - the eponymously named "Dilscoop" shot over his head, which confounded bowlers and experts alike.

First there was Johnson, then there was Starc. A left-armer called Mitchell has been a staple of Australia's attack for most of the past decade and seems set to remain so for the foreseeable future. While Johnson was more express, Starc is still quick enough to make life uncomfortable for opposition batsmen, especially with the bounce gained from his 1.96m height - and boasts greater control of swing than his older colleague. Never was that shown to greater effect than during the 2015 World Cup, when Starc was at times unplayable, his inswingers rattling stumps and trapping batsmen in front throughout the competition.

A classy left-hander with a full range of shots, JP Duminy's career has become a story of unfulfilled promise against the backdrop of bad luck with injury. Duminy is best known for his cover drive, square cut, quick wrists and athletic fielding. With more than a decade of international cricket to his name, his most prized accomplishment was becoming South Africa's leading T20 run-scorer, in 2013, as well as the first from the country to amass 1500 runs in the format.