5 legendary players who didn't play enough Test cricket

#2 Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi could have become a legendary all-rounder in Test cricket as well

Shahid Afridi is one of the most destructive batsmen cricket has ever seen. Couple that with his accurate leg breaks, and you'd think that you had a cricketer perfectly suited to be a lower-order all-rounder in Test cricket. However, despite the promise he showed as a youngster, Afridi played only 27 Tests for Pakistan, scoring 1,716 runs and taking 48 wickets.

The former Pakistan captain opted to quit Test cricket in 2006 to prolong his limited-overs career and although cricket romantics have questioned his decision, it is hard to fault the man for the brave call. In 398 ODIs, Afridi scored 8,064 runs and picked up 395 wickets, retiring (multiple times) as one of the country's greatest-ever all-rounders.

Had Afridi chosen to play Test cricket till the end of his career, he could have broken numerous records.

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#1 Lasith Malinga

Injuries prevented Malinga from reaching great heights in Test cricket

Known for his distinctive action that could cause batsmen all sorts of problems in red-ball cricket, Lasith Malinga's Test career got off to a good start as he dismissed Adam Gilchrist on debut. However, injuries ravaged the speedster's career, and he played only 30 Tests with 101 wickets to his name.

Malinga had all the weapons to succeed in Test cricket - a potent yorker, a tempting outswinger, and a surprise bouncer. But after knee problems plagued him for years, he decided that his body couldn't take the workload of Tests and confined himself to the coloured clothing from 2011.

Much like Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, we could have seen Malinga excel in the whites, but it was sadly not to be.

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