Cricketers’ Evolution Journey: Bowlers Became Batsmen
Cricket is a game of uncertainty due to this nature, its popularity is increasing worldwide day by day and we saw bowlers became batsmen. Many times a good catch, fielding effort or a great ball changes the course of a match. Within a few overs, the ‘cycle’ of the game turns in such a way that the team that is moving towards victory gets defeated and the team that seems to be losing gets success.
Cricket has also seen many changes from starting till now in terms of sporting skills, rules, etc. There have been some players who started their careers as a batsman and established themselves as excellent bowlers, while some others started as bowlers but with time, batting became their identity and bowlers became batsmen. Later they earned a name as a good batsman or an all-rounder.
Let’s look at those prominent players who started their international careers as bowlers and later became batsmen. Here is the list of bowlers become batsmen as follows;
Steve Smith: One of the Fab Four
Australia’s Steve Smith is considered the best batsman in Test cricket after Don Bradman. Steve has scored more than 9 thousand runs in Tests at an average of 58.03. However, in international cricket, he started as a leg-break bowler who used to bat in the lower order. In his debut T20 match against Pakistan in 2010, Smith took two wickets as a bowler. He batted at number 8 in the match and scored 8 runs in 8 balls with the help of 1 four.
In his One Day International debut match, he could not come to bat even when Australia had lost 5 wickets but he bowled 9.5 overs and took two important wickets of West Indies after spending costly 78 runs but later as his career goes on he is one of the bowlers became batsmen.
Even in his first Test (3 wickets in the second innings), he was mainly in the role of bowler. Later, Steve worked hard on his batting and his batting order and run average kept getting higher. Smith, who has been playing the responsibility of number three batsman for Australia for a long time, recently played the responsibility of opener in The Frank Worrell Trophy against West Indies. Now bowler Smith has been left behind in front of the brilliance of batsman Smith. Now he bowls very less in international matches.
Shoaib Malik: Started as an Off-Break Bowler
Shoaib Malik of Pakistan, who started his international career in October 1999, is a player who is still playing cricket and one of the bowlers became batsmen. Shoaib has retired from Test cricket but has not retired from ODI and T20I. He is being considered a contender for entry into the Pakistan team for this year’s T20 World Cup.
Shoaib, who made his ODI debut against West Indies at the age of 17, used to bowl off break. Like Smith, his role in the initial matches was only as a bowler. He used to bat lower in the order. By improving his batting, he soon established himself as an all-rounder. In many matches, he played as a pure batsman. He has also batted as an opener in ODI and T20.
Ravi Shastri: Batting at Number 10 in Debut Test, Later Became the Opener
Ravi Shastri was such a clever player who made full use of his limited abilities and contributed to many victories of India. There is a record in his name for batting for all five days in Test cricket.
Shastri, a member of the Indian team that won the World Cup in 1983, made his Test debut against New Zealand in 1981 as a leg spinner. In this match, he came to bat at number 10. Understanding the importance of batting, he continued to improve in it and soon established himself as the team’s top-order batsman and made his mark as an all-rounder. arvi Shastri is also known as bowlers became batsmen.
Shastri had an important contribution in making India champion in the 1987 World Championship of Cricket. He started the Indian innings in this tournament. Due to his all-round performance, he became the Champion of Champions and got an Audi car as a reward. Ravi Shastri, who was also the coach of the Indian team, has 3830 runs and 151 wickets in Test cricket and 3108 runs and 129 wickets in ODI.
Sanath Jayasuriya: Started Batting in ODI and Dominated
Sanath Jayasuriya earned worldwide fame as an explosive opener and made an important contribution in making Sri Lanka the 1996 world champion. Jayasuriya has also scored a triple century against India in Tests. Sanath started his career in December 1989 as a leg spinner who also batted a little in the lower order but later his name is also in the list of bowlers became batsmen.
The big turning point in his career came when captain Arjun Ranatunga tried him as an opener after seeing his ability to hit the ball during net practice. After this, Jayasuriya became a threat to the opposition bowlers. Jayasuriya’s batting played an important role in making Sri Lanka the champion in the World Cup 1996 and he was declared Player of the Tournament. 6973 runs and 98 wickets in Test, 13430 runs and 323 wickets in ODI and 629 runs and 19 wickets in T20I are the best examples of Jayasuriya’s cricketing skills.
Shahid Afridi: 37 Ball Century Record
Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi ruled the hearts of cricket fans for many years. Due to his tremendous hitting ability, he got the name ‘Boom-Boom Afridi’. Shahid was unmatched in hitting sixes and he led Pakistan to many memorable victories. Afridi first scored the century on the fewest balls in ODI (37 balls), this record was later broken by Corey Anderson (36 balls) and then AB de Villiers (31 balls).
Shahid had made a place in the Pakistan team as a right-arm leg spinner. During the triangular series in 1996, spinner Mushtaq Ahmed got injured and Afridi got a place in the Pakistan team. Afridi’s Test career ended in just 27 matches but he made a splash as an all-rounder in ODIs and T20s. bowlers became batsmen article is incomplete without Shahid Afridi.
The turning point in the career of ‘Boom-Boom Afridi’ came when captain Wasim Akram saw him batting in the nets and was impressed by his fearless hitting. As a ‘surprise package’, Afridi was given a chance against Sri Lanka in his second ODI, he was sent to bat at number three and whatever happened after this is recorded on the pages of history in golden words. Afridi scored 102 runs in 37 balls with the help of 11 sixes and six fours. After this, he was promoted in the batting order. He also opened in Test, ODI and T20. This is all from the list of bowlers became batsmen.