The Special All-rounders’ Club – 500 runs and 50 wickets in a calendar year

500 runs in a year with the bat is a decent effort. 26 batsmen have done it this year, only three of whom are all-rounders. 50 wickets in a Test is an equally monumental feat with the ball, even more so. Only two bowlers, Ravichandran Ashwin and Rangana Herath have done it this year and we are close to the end of the calendar year.

Only 23 bowlers have done it in the last 10 years. So, when a player achieves that golden double of 500 runs and 50 wickets in Tests in a calendar year, it is a tribute to his skills with the bat and the ball, in a highly competitive environment. Ashwin achieved it during the ongoing Test match at Mohali against England and has joined a very illustrious group of cricketers to do so in the game’s long history.

Ashwin also became only the second Indian after Kapil Dev to achieve this phenomenal feat. Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and Shaun Pollock are the only three players to do so twice. Let’s take a look at the 7 players to have achieved the 500 runs – 50 wickets double.

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#1 Ian Botham (England)

One of the greatest cricketing all-rounders the game has ever seen, Botham achieved the 500-50 rare double twice during the same period when Kapil did it. Botham did it for the first time in 1978 and in the process, became the first player ever to do it. He scored 597 runs in just 12 Tests at 39.8 with 3 centuries and picked up 66 wickets at an unbelievable average of 18.19 with six 5-wicket hauls.

What was stupendous about that effort was how few Tests he needed to do that – just 12. It helped that he played 9 of those 12 Tests in England and New Zealand where the ball does a lot off the seam and even the remaining three were in Australia where one gets pitches conducive to seam-bowlers.

The second time he achieved it was in 1981 when he scored 629 runs at 28.59 in 13 Tests and picked up 62 wickets at 25.54 with 4 five-wicket hauls.

#2 Kapil Dev (India)

1983 was a phenomenal year for Kapil Dev. He captained India to probably, its greatest sporting moment by lifting the World Cup. On a personal front, too, Kapil Dev touched new heights. He achieved the rare double of 500 runs and 50 wickets for a second time.

Kapil scored 579 runs at 22.26 including a century and a whopping 75 wickets at 23.18. He had achieved the feat for the first time in 1979, when he scored 619 runs at 30.95 and took 74 wickets at 22.95. What is more impressive is the fact that Kapil had played 13 of the 17 Tests that year at home, where pitches aren’t as conducive to fast bowling as they are outside.

In 1983 too, 13 of the 18 Tests were played in the sub-continent, 4 of those 13 in Pakistan’s backyard, where Kapil was phenomenal, picking 8 and 7 wickets in the second and fourth Tests respectively. Kapil didn’t manage to get any centuries though, 98 being his highest at St. John’s against West Indies.

#3 Shaun Pollock (South Africa)

Given Pollock’s potential with the bat, he could be dubbed one of the greatest underachievers in batting. The man who scored 3781 runs at 32.31 and picked up 421 wickets in Tests, was a genuine all-rounder who didn’t think much of batting.

He had two great years with the bat though, in 1998 and 2001 when he scored 593 and 573 runs at 29.65 and then a whopping 52.09 respectively. He picked up 69 and 55 wickets respectively with the ball in those two years. Pollock even managed couple of centuries in 2001 along with five not-outs, one of them an unbeaten century.

#4 Andrew Flintoff (England)

England’s MVP during the early 2000s, Andrew Flintoff, holds the record for most runs by a cricketer with 50 wickets in a calendar year, 709. Flintoff had a great 2005 when he scored 709 at 30.82 and picked up 68 wickets at 24.41 with one century and one five-wicket haul.

Three of Flintoff’s 14 Tests were played in Pakistan. His best performances came against England’s arch-rivals, Australia, in the famous Ashes series. Flintoff managed three half-centuries to go with the century he scored.

#5 Daniel Vettori (New Zealand)

Vettori at one point looked like the player who would join Kapil Dev as the only all-rounder with the 5000 runs – 400 wickets double. But, injuries didn’t let him achieve that. Nevertheless, Vettori had an excellent 2008 when he scored 672 runs at 35.36 and picked up 54 wickets at 26.12 with five five-wicket hauls.

New Zealand’s understated former skipper played only 2 of those 14 matches in the sub-continent. The other 12 were in New Zealand, Australia and England, which show the class of the man, known for the guile, deception and discipline of his left arm orthodox spin.

#6 Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

Johnson’s second wind saw him become one of the world’s most feared bowlers, ending several careers in its wake. In 2009, Johnson scored 500 runs at 33.33 in 13 Tests and picked up 63 wickets at 27.42. Johnson’s best performances with the bat came towards the end of the year against South Africa in South Africa, including an unbeaten 96 and an unbeaten 123.

Johnson had a successful career for Australia, scoring 2065 runs at 22.20 but more importantly, picking up 313 wickets at 28.40, having played only 73 Tests. However, the southpaw had the gift of timing and was a genuinely good player of fast bowling, skills he could have made more of, if not for his aggressive approach to batting.

#7 Ravichandran Ashwin (India)*

Ashwin is having a great year and he is still not finished. In 10 Tests, Ashwin has already scored 545 runs at 45.41 with 2 centuries and picked 59 wickets at 21.70 (a match still in progress at the time of writing) including 6 five-wicket hauls. Ashwin has benefited from the fact that India has played 6 out of those Tests in India.

However, he was excellent even away from home in West Indies, where he scored two centuries to go with his 17 wickets in 4 Tests. Ashwin is in the middle of a Test series against England with two more games to go, which allows him a genuine crack at Flintoff’s mark of 709 runs and Kapil’s mark of 75 wickets, although he will need two big games for the same.

SK Play of the Day: R Ashwin's beauty removes Alastair Cook in the second innings of the Mohali Test