Four Indian cricketers who opened both batting and bowling in the same match

It is extremely rare to find players who can emerge as the match-winners both with the bat and ball. The game of cricket has seen only a handful of players capable of scoring runs for their teams at a fast pace along with scalping wickets at regular intervals. What is rarer is an all-rounder getting a chance to open both the batting and bowling for his team while playing in a cricket match. In this article, let’s look at 4 Indian cricketers who opened both batting & bowling in the same match

Kapil Dev

India’s 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev is one of the most celebrated all-rounders of all times. Dev was majorly known as a lower-order batsman who could apply finishing touches to the Indian batting innings by coming to bat at Number 7 position. There was one during the 1992 World Cup match against Zimbabwe when he opened the innings for India alongside Krishnamachari Srikkanth but could contribute only 10 runs with the willow. What made the game more special was the fact that he bowled the first over for India while returning with the figures of 6 runs in 4 overs.

Virender Sehwag

The opening batsmen Virender Sehwag is renowned as one of the most destructive and ruthless batsmen ever. It is a known fact that Sehwag was a decent off-spin bowler too and was helpful in the initial overs. While playing in a One Day International against Australia in 2005, Sehwag was handed the ball in the first over by captain Rahul Dravid due to the presence of two left-handers Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden on the pitch. However, this ploy by the Indian side didn’t work as the off-spinner failed to pick any wicket and bagged a duck while opening the batting.

Irfan Pathan

Veteran left-arm fast-medium bowler Irfan Pathan could bat decently in the lower-order and boasts of having a 31+ average in Tests along with 23+ average in ODIs. In the fourth-match of the 2005 ODI series against South Africa at home, Irfan was promoted up the batting order and was expected to help India gain a good start. However, the move didn’t fetch the desired results as Pathan bagged a second ball-duck and also failed to make an impact with the ball.

Manoj Prabhakar

The right-arm medium-pace bowler and a lower-order batsman Manoj Prabhakar was considered as an alternative for Kapil Dev in the early 90s and was a regular feature in India’s playing XI. He holds the record of opening both batting and bowling for India the most number of times. He did the aforementioned task a whopping 45 number of times in One Day Internationals.