Paul Collingwood

A very popular member of the England team and known to be a complete team man, Paul Collingwood led England to their first major ICC trophy when they defeated Australia in the T20 Championships in 2010. He made his ODI debut in 2001 and soon established himself as a useful all rounder with some useful contributions in the middle order and his military-medium bowling.
Things got better for him since 2003, when he was rewarded with a contract and a Test call up for the first time. His workmanlike batting style and his ability to play under pressure earned him the tag of being a good finisher.

Collingwood's reputation as an all rounder in ODIs grew when he surpassed Viv Richards' best all round performance with a century and a 6 wicket haul against Bangladesh in 2005. His other notable performances came against arch rivals Australia in the CB series in 2006. He powered England into the finals with a 106 against New Zealand in the last league match and followed it up with a match winning 120 run knock against Australia in the first final. Collingwood then finished the series in style by bagging the Man of the Match award for his 70 and 2 wicket haul, helping England lift the trophy. Collingwood replaced Michael Vaughan as ODI skipper after the latter resigned from the post before the home series against West Indies in 2007. He enjoyed a fair amount of success as skipper but his poor form post 2008 made him relinquish the role. But he returned as skipper of the T20 squad for the 2009 World Cup, and led his team to the title a year later.

Despite making his Test debut in 2003, Collingwood seemed more like a replacement player and took his time to seal his spot. In 2005-06, he enjoyed success in the sub continent with powerful performances against India and Pakistan, including his maiden century in Nagpur. He followed it up with good scores in Sri Lanka and established his position ahead of the Ashes in 2006. England had a forgettable Ashes in Australia as they lost 0-5 but Collingwood had moments to remember, when he brought up his maiden double ton in Adelaide. He suffered a dip in form after 2008 and eventually bowed out of Test cricket after England's 3-1 Ashes win in 2011.

By Karthik Lakshmanan

Interesting fact: The ECB named Paul Collingwood as England's assistant coach for the tour of West Indies in early 2014 but Collingwood had to be named as a fielding substitute for the first one-day international between England and West Indies in Antigua after the England squad shrunk due to injuries to a few players.