10 middle-order batsmen who became great openers

Marvan Atapattu

Atapattu played second-fiddle to the more adventurous Jayasuriya at the top.

Atapattu, who captained Sri Lanka in both formats, was also an able opening batsman, playing second-fiddle to Jayasuriya's more explosive game. He made his debut as a 20-year old in 1990, but took his time to get used to the rigours of international cricket.

He started as low as No.9, and played irregularly till 1996. In late 1997, he scored centuries against India in both Tests and ODIs, forming an ideal pair with Jayasuriya. Atapattu ended his career in 2007 with 8259 ODI runs and 5502 Test runs. As a set of openers, Jayasuriya and Atapattu compiled 3382 runs from 79 ODIs.