There are some legendary batsmen who have rolled their arms over in international cricket. And they have had been lucky to bag wickets as well. In fact, a few of these legendary batsmen have gone on to become ‘partnership breakers’ and have been called on to bowl when things had been going tough. So, here’s a list of few legendary batsmen who have taken at least a wicket in international cricket.
1) Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10,000 runs and 30 tons in Test cricket used to bowl medium or off-break. He has bowled 400 balls in international cricket, both Tests and ODIs combined and has managed to bag one wicket apiece in both the formats of the game. Co-incidentally, both his only Test and ODI victim is Zaheer Abbas of Pakistan.
2) Alastair Cook
The left-handed England opener is the first from his country to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He has scored a ton in his first and last Test, both against India. He hardly bowled in international cricket, but the rare chance he got to bowl his slow bowling, he picked up a Test wicket of Ishant Sharma of India. Overall, he bowled just 18 balls in his Test career.
3) Rahul Dravid
The former Indian captain has done everything he has been asked to. He has opened the batting, played at middle-order, kept wickets, and even bowled at times. His off-break bowling has earned him 5 wickets (1 in Tests and 4 in ODIs) in international cricket. His only Test victim was Ridley Jacobs of West Indies in St John’s Test in 2002, the same Test where Anil Kumble bowled with a broken jaw, and all the XI Indian players rolled their arm over.
4) Sir Don Bradman
The Aussie great is regarded as the greatest batsman ever, boasting of a batting average of 99.94 in Test cricket. But not many know he also has 2 Test wickets to his name. Bradman used to bowl leg-break and has bowled 160 balls in Test cricket. His two Test victims are Ivan Barrow of West Indies and Wally Hammond of England.
Cover picture credits: The Print
