In this episode of the show, we take a break from the live cricket to discuss the most influential cricketers of the 21st century.

In Part 1 of this two-part discussion, we outline our definition of 'influential', and throw out a bunch of candidates for the Top Order Podcast's Mount Rushmore. We talk about T20 influencers like Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard, Indian powerhouse figureheads like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, culture setters like Brendon McCullum and Andrew Strauss, outliers like Ellyse Perry and Lasith Malinga, plus a host of other names as we consider how the game of cricket got to where it is today and who has had the biggest impact.

Who did we forget? What do you agree with/disagree with? We've love to get your thoughts and continue the discussion.

Part 2, in which we narrow down the debate and each decide on our top 4 cricketers to etch into stone, will be available 24 hours from the release of this episode, so keep an eye out for that. We'll then be back again about a week later with our regular This Week in Cricket programming. Until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including conversations Mike Hesson, Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [email protected].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro - Define influential

4:35 Virat Kohli

7:50 Chris Gayle

10:45 Andrew Strauss

14:00 MS Dhoni

17:20 Kevin Pietersen

22:35 Brendon McCullum

31:15 Lasith Malinga

34:45 Rashid Khan

37:30 Ellyse Perry

40:40 Adam Gilchrist

43:55 Honourable mentions

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