The importance of having an all-rounder in a side is immense as the player not only provides a massive balance to the side but also has the capability of winning matches with both the bat and the ball. The value of an all-rounder increases to a great extent when it comes to a tournament like the Indian Premier League. This tournament has seen some of the greatest all-rounders of this format of the game, including Hardik Pandya, Sunil Narine, Ravindra Jadeja, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and many more.
Here, we will talk about three genuine batsmen who have also picked up a wicket in the IPL.
#3 Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai Indians)
First of all, many of the IPL fans and followers may not remember that the star Indian batsman used to play for the Mumbai Indians before moving to the Rajasthan Royals. He played the first two editions for them and during that time, he took the wicket of Luke Pombersbach, who opened the batting for Kings XI Punjab.
Sachin Tendulkar was the captain of MI back then and he gambled by giving the ball in the hands of Ajinkya Rahane on the dry wicket of Centurion. He bowled just a single over in that game and apart from taking that one wicket, he only conceded five runs.
#2 Shikhar Dhawan (Deccan Chargers)
Shikhar Dhawan is right now playing for the Delhi Capitals, for whom he is doing a terrific job as he is in the running for the Orange Cap. Known for his batting, Dhawan did brilliantly with the ball as well for the Deccan Chargers.
Dhawan was believed to be a man with 'Golden Arm' as he picked up four wickets for them. And all of those four scalps were massive as the list has big names like Virender Sehwag, Sourav Ganguly, Shaun Marsh and David Warner. After this, he was banned from bowling by the ICC for his illegal bowling action.
#1 Adam Gilchrist (Kings XI Punjab)
Even after so many years of his retirement, Adam Gilchrist is one of the most loved cricketers all around the world. After playing a few years for the Deccan Chargers where he also won the IPL in 2009, he joined KXIP. His only wicket as bowler came in his final year in IPL.
It was his last match and Punjab had almost won the game, so he decided to roll his arms over the ball. He handed over the wicketkeeping gloves to Praveen Kumar and ended up taking the wicket of Harbhajan Singh in his very first ball.
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