5 cricketers who represented their country in sports other than cricket
Donning the jersey of one’s home country and representing it on an international level is a dream come true moment for any sportsperson. There are many who find it extremely hard to break into the national team and make a mark. However, there have been a few lucky ones who have represented their country in not just one but two sports.
In the game of cricket, there are a handful of cricketers who are exceptionally well in other sports too and represented their country at international level. However, they chose to stick to cricket in the end and are now renowned as the greats of the game. In this article, Let’s take a look at the cricketers who excelled in other sports too.
5. Jonty Rhodes – Hockey
In his illustrious international cricket career of 12 years, Jonty Rhodes was renowned as the greatest fielder to have ever graced the gentleman’s game. Since his debut in 1992, he represented South Africa in 52 Test matches and 245 ODI Internationals scoring 2,532 and 5,935 runs respectively.
However, what many of you might not be aware of is that along with cricket, Rhodes was trained in Hockey too. He was chosen to be a part of 1992 Olympics for South Africa’s National Hockey squad but the country didn’t qualify for the tournament. Later, the sportsman was picked for the 1996 edition but had to pull out from the event due to a hamstring injury.
4. Yuzvendra Chahal – Chess
Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal holds the record of being the only Indian player to represent his country in both chess and cricket. Chahal is a regular feature of India’s playing XI in the ODI Internationals and T20 Internationals and is one of the leading wicket-takers for the country.
Before making his debut for the cricket team in 2016, Chahal represented India as a professional Chess player from 1997 to 2003. In 2002, he won the National Under-11 Championship in Kolkata. The following year, Chahal represented India at the World (Under-12) Championship in Halkidiki, Greece. Notably, the sportsman still has an Elo rating of 1956 on the International Chess Federation.
3. Viv Richards – Football
One of the greatest cricketers in the history of the game, Viv Richards is known to have represented his country, West Indies in both Cricket World Cup and Football World Cup. While Richards represented Antigua and Barbuda in the qualifiers for the 1974 World Cup in football, he was a part of the cricket World Cup-winning squad in 1975 and 1979.
The swashbuckling batsman had shifted his whole focus to cricket after his team’s poor performance in the 1974 football World Cup (qualifying stage).
2. Ellyse Perry – Football
Australia’s cricket sensation Ellyse Perry is the first Australian woman to have represented her country in both cricket and football. She made her debut both for the national cricket and soccer team at the tender age of 16. Her footballing career began in 2008 when she represented Australia in the Asian Cup playing as a defender.
She was a part of the Central Coast Mariners in Australia’s domestic football league in 2008-09 before transferring to Canberra where she was the player of the season in 2009. She has a total of 3 international goals to her name. While in cricket, she is a regular feature of Australia’s playing XI and has played 84 ODIs and 82 T20 Internationals so far.
1. Ian Botham – Football
England’s prolific all-rounder Sir Ian Terence Botham, is another England player to have represented his country both in cricket and football. Botham wore the football jersey for only 11 times in his career as he played for Yeovil United and Scunthorpe United as centre-half from 1978 to 1985. With 7000 international runs with 500 wickets in his kitty, Sir Ian Botham earned his fame as one of the legends of the game of cricket.
