Being in a team sport, especially cricket, gives a player an opportunity to reinvent and redefine themselves (cricketers) and their roles.
Since all-rounders are crucial to providing balance to a side, and they always remain in demand, there have been players who started either as a batsman or a bowler and went on to turn into all-rounders. There are a few cricketers who started out as bowlers, even in international cricket, before finding their talent as batters and became legendary in status.
Here are 5 cricketers who started out as a bowler before turning into legendary batsman or all-rounder:
Steve Smith
Whenever one talks about the career of Steve Smith, the point that is almost always mentioned is that he got into the Australian team in 2010 as a leg-spinner as Australia aimed to hunt the replacement of Shane Warne. However, by 2012, it was realised that Smith had unique talents as a batsman and by the end of the 2014 Ashes, he had laid claims to become a great batter. By the end of the 2019 Ashes, Smith was being hailed as the best Test batsman since Don Bradman.
A two-time ODI World Cup winner, a T20 World Cup winner, and a multiple-time Ashes winner, Steve Smith has racked up over 16000 international runs and currently averages 58 in Test cricket.
Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri made his Test debut in 1981 as a lower-order hitter and spinner, batting at number 10. As he showed his prowess with the bat, Shastri moved up the order and became a lynchpin in India’s top-order. Adding to his left-arm spin, Shastri soon turned into a proper all-rounder. He was part of the 1983 World Cup triumph and was named the Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket 1985 in Australia. He featured in 230 internationals for India.
Shahid Afridi
There have been few batters who could hit the ball as powerfully as Shahid Afridi. But the Pakistani player had began his international career as a leg-spinner who would be used as a pinch-hitter. His six-hitting exploits soon earned him the nickname of ‘Boom Boom Afridi’ and he went on to earn a permanent place in the hearts of the Pakistani fans.
Appearing in 27 Tests, 398 ODIs, and 99 T20Is, Afridi scored over 11,000 runs and picked up 541 wickets. He was the Player of the Tournament in the 2007 T20 World Cup and in 2009, led Pakistan to the T20 world title.
Sanath Jayasuriya
With 20966 runs, Sanath Jayasuriya is the third-highest international run-scorer in Sri Lanka’s history. To make his career even more remarkable, Jayasuriya also snapped 440 international wickets, making him one of the greatest all-rounders the game has seen.
Jayasuriya came into the side as a left-arm spinner with the ability to crack a few lusty blows. His batting talents were truly realised when he started opening and helped Sri Lanka to the 1996 World Cup triumph. From thereon, the world regularly witnessed his fiery as a batter.
Shoaib Malik
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik is one of the best examples on this list. Shoaib Malik made his ODI debut in 1999 as an off-spinner and was slotted in to bat at number 10! It took a few years for everyone, including Malik himself, to realise that he had plenty of batting prowess. And by the end of his career, he had amassed 12938 runs, the sixth-most for his country. Malik also took over 200 wickets in international cricket.
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