5 players you didn’t know had impressive bowling records

Over the years, there have been several batsmen who have made substantial contributions with the bat in hand. They have been instrumental in many of their team’s victories and have been crucial elements in the batting line-up.

Though they are mainly in the team for their batting prowess, every now and then, a few might be called upon to do a patch up job with the ball. Their skills with the ball have added more value to the team.

As we move ahead, we take a look at batsmen who have impressive records as a bowler.

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#5 Chris Gayle

Brutal and ferocious style of batting is what hits the mind when the man in discussion is Christopher Henry Gayle. Hitting sixes is bread and butter for the hulking Jamaican as he makes run-scoring look ridiculously effortless.

However, apart from his swashbuckling potential with the willow, he also has contributed effectively with the ball for the West Indies. Bowling right-arm off-spin, Gayle is more than a part-time bowler who believes in darting the ball at the batsman instead of imparting spin on it.

He also has three five-wicket hauls in Test cricket and One Day Internationals, which displays Gayle’s class as a bowler. Also, he has decent economy rates across all formats of the game as he is difficult to get away.

	Matches	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average	Strike-Rate	Economy
Tests	102	3120	73	5/34	42.73	97.3	2.63
ODI	269	5739	163	4/46	35.20	44.3	4.76
T20I	51	377	17	2/15	22.17	18.07	7.09

#4 Jean Paul Duminy

Duminy is a more than able part-timer

J.P Duminy is predominantly a middle-order batsman and is someone who can be trusted upon when the chips are down. With his calm and composed style of batting, he has rescued South Africa from precarious positions on several occasions.

Nevertheless, he also has shown tremendous skills with the ball and has churned out wickets at crucial junctures of a game. He has always stuck to accurate line and lengths instead of experimenting too much and it has paid dividends for the right-arm off-spinner from Cape Town.

He also boasts of excellent economy rates in Test Cricket, One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals. With an ability to check the flow of runs, Duminy has contributed immensely for South Africa with the ball.

	Matches	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average	Strike-Rate	Economy
Tests	46	1601	42	4/47	38.11	64.3	3.55
ODI	1777	3111	63	4/16	43.77	49.3	5.31
T20	71	506	17	3/18	29.76	23.00	7.76

#3 Sanath Jayasuriya

Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya was often regarded as a destructor at the top order with his approach of taking on the bowlers in the first 10 overs when the ball was hard and new. As a batsman, he rarely resorted to patient knocks as he often led Sri Lanka to flying starts.

However, his belligerent display of batting often overshadowed his ability with the ball. With 320 wickets in 441 games, he is Sri Lanka’s third highest wicket-taker in One Day Internationals. He also picked up 98 wickets in the 110 Test matches in which he represented Sri Lanka.

Extra cover: Sanath Jayasuriya: Sri Lanka's chief destroyer

Also, with his easy going action, he used to rush through his overs and never allowed batsmen to settle into a rhythm.

	Matches	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average	Strike-Rate	Economy
Tests	110	3366	98	5/34	34.34	83.5	2.46
ODI	445	11871	323	6/29	36.75	46.00	4.78
T20	31	456	19	3/21	24.00	19.50	7.37

#2 Andrew Symonds

Symonds could do a decent job with the ball

Andrew Symonds was known for his belligerence with the bat and his ability to cut loose when runs were the need of the hour. An aggressive middle-order batsman, Symonds hardly allowed bowlers to get a good rhythm going by using his feet to good effect.

However, apart from his daring approach to batting, Roy (Symonds’s nickname) could bowl slow medium-pace and right-arm off breaks. The ability to bowl a variety of deliveries made him a handy asset in the Australian bowling armoury.

While he didn’t play too much Test cricket, he featured regularly in the limited overs format for Australia. In One Day International cricket, he picked up 133 wickets that included a couple of 4-wicket haul and a 5-wicket haul.

	Matches	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average	Strike-Rate	Economy
Tests	26	896	24	3/50	37.33	87.2	2.56
ODI	198	4955	133	5/18	37.25	44.6	5.00
T20	14	277	8	2/14	34.62	23.1	8.98

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar

Over the entire length of his glorious career, Sachin Tendulkar had piled on several records with the willow. From being the first man in ODIs to score a double-hundred to scoring 34,000 runs in International cricket, the Little Master had been exemplary as a cricketer.

He was no mug with the ball either. He could bowl leg-spin, off-spin and medium-pace, which gave his captains enough options to work with. He was once entrusted to bowl the final over of an ODI, with 6 runs to defend against South Africa in 1993. Easier said than done for a part-timer. But Sachin isn’t the sort to back out of a challenge and he came out on top.

Extra cover: ‘Will bowl, will field, can bat’ – Sachin Tendulkar as a cricketer

The Master Blaster also picked up three wickets in one over against Australia, dismissing the trio of Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne in the second Test in Kolkata when Australia visited India in 2001.

	Matches	Runs	Wickets	Best Bowling	Average	Strike-Rate	Economy
Tests	200	2492	46	3/10	54.17	92.1	3.52
ODI	463	6850	154	5/32	44.48	52.2	5.10
T20	1	12	1	1/12	12	15	4.80