5 cricketers who made a successful transition from Tests to T20s

Big Bash League - Heat v Thunder
Vettori was the perfect spinner in T20s, slowing down the run-rate and tied the batsmen

T20 cricket has its own set of requirements and these requirements are different from other formats of the game.

Hence, it is commonly believed that a single player cannot achieve success in all three formats. However, there have been exceptions to this and the most interesting ones are of players who made a successful transition from Tests to T20s.

The basics of cricket remain same in all formats and hence some believe that it is relatively easy for Test players to adapt to the conditions of T20 cricket.

Have a look at the five cricketers, who began their career in Tests but made their mark in T20s by altering their techniques.

#5. Daniel Vettori- The unnoticed spin threat

The batting team takes full toll of the powerplays and races to a quickfire start. The openers play brash, reckless yet effective strokes, and amass a big total in the opening overs.

Just when the batting team looks to dominate the game, the spinner comes into the action in the middle overs and suddenly the runs dry out. The scoring rate drops, boundaries become scarce and batsmen lose wickets owing to the pressure.

The spinner runs through his overs and the batting team is unable to finish off well in the death overs thanks to the irreparable damage done by the spinner in the death overs.

In his seven years in T20I, Daniel Vettori played the role of that spinner who didn't claim many wickets but was almost impossible to score against. The left-arm spinner maintained an economy rate of 5.70 in 34 T20I which is a phenomenal achievement.

Before venturing in the T20 arena, Vettori had a decade long experience of playing Test cricket, a format in which he was among the best in the business.

He utilized his Test match skills in T20s and reaped tremendous success. He thrived on accuracy and outfoxed the batsmen with his variations and subtle change of pace.

He wasn't an ideal wicket-taker but by creating pressure from one end, he allowed other bowlers to pick wickets from the other end.

The underrated bowler finished with an economy rate of just above six after featuring in 143 matches and has 131 wickets in his bag along with 362 Test wickets.

#4. Amit Mishra, the attacking bowler

India v Sri Lanka - ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 Final
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra adapted his game to T20 cricket

The advent of T20 cricket was seen as the end of the era of spinners in cricket but after a decade of T20 cricket, the spinners have emerged as the most lethal weapon for bowling captains.

Currently, the trend suits spinners who turn the ball in both directions or spinners who have the lion's heart to bowl in the power play overs. But that doesn't underestimate the value of leg-spinners.

The leg-spinners are the best bait to pick a wicket due to their deceiving lengths and the bounce they extract along with turn. Hence, in a T20 game, the leggies are an essential cog of a successful team.

The leggie who is tormenting batting lineups since the last decade is Amit Mishra, who had then emerged as the heir of Anil Kumble.

After claiming a five-wicket haul in his debut Test, Mishra faded out in Tests, the format he was born to excel in, but over the years has found his mojo in the shortest format of the game.

After featuring in T20s for more than a decade, the leggie has become India's leading wicket-taker in T20s and is undoubtedly India's best bowler in this format.

Plus, his strike rate of 18.2 makes him a match-winner on his day.

#3. Hashim Amla- The nice man of cricket delivers

New Zealand v South Africa - 1st T20

Hashim Amla is the epitome of patience and concentration. These qualities made him highly successful in Tests but the same qualities stamped him as unfit to excel in T20s.

But for Amla, no task is daunting and the South African, to everyone's surprise, succeeded in this format as well. He used the same technique of Test cricket to excel in T20s. In the shorter format, he simply reduced his dot ball percentage and focused on rotating the strike.

His heroics in the 2017 edition of IPL surprised everyone as he amassed two hundreds and averaged 44.38. However, a deeper look at his T20 statistics shouldn't make his IPL success a surprise as he has always remained a prolific hitter in T20s.

He averages 33.75 in 116 T20 innings and that too with a strike rate of 128.57. He scores a boundary every 5.97 balls which make him not too far away from Kieron Pollard (5.08 balls) and David Warner (4.93 balls).

However what sets Amla apart from the rest is his elegant strokes and classy demeanor which is a rarity in T20 cricket.

#2. Mike Hussey- the run machine

Big Bash League - Brisbane Heat v Sydney Thunder

It took 175 first class games for Michael Hussey to earn his maiden Test call-up but once he received the opportunity, he grabbed it with both hands and became one of the most consistent run-scorers in Test cricket.

Nicknamed as 'Mr.Cricket' for his staggering rate of notching up big scores and ability to adapt to all conditions, Hussey was a quintennial Test batsman who had a defense of steel and strokes for all deliveries.

But in the semi-finals of world T20 2010, when Australia needed 47 runs to win from 17 balls with seven of their prime batsmen back in the hut, no one gave Hussey any chance. However, the left-hander used his Test match batting skills and did the unthinkable.

He slammed Saed Ajmal for 22 runs in the final over to exhibit his effectiveness in T20 cricket and the world realized that Hussey thrives on anything and in any format.

The Australian batsman enjoyed a long stint at IPL, becoming the batting pillar of Chennai Super Kings. In 161 T20 games, he averages 37.45 and has amassed more than 4500 runs.

Impeccable fitness, never-die attitude, street smart mind and strong technique were Hussey's ingredients for achieving success in T20s and like Tests, in this format too he was highly consistent.

#1. Brad Hodge - the quintessential T20 player

Big Bash League - Perth v Adelaide
Hodge used power and strategy to maximise his T20 career

Before the West Indies and Glenn Maxwell proved the importance of power-hitting in T20 cricket, batting in this format was all about eliminating low impact shots and scoring boundaries more frequently.

And nobody excelled in this approach better than Brad Hodge. The Australian batsman followed an effective template to score a mountain of runs in T20s. He would start the innings cautiously, taking the time to settle down and then upped the ante by bisecting gaps. He would keep his high-risk and big shots for the end to provide a flourish.

With this approach, the right-hand batsman enjoyed unprecedented success in T20 leagues across the world and become a top ranked batsman in this format.

All this was achieved after Australia neglected his batting heroics in first-class cricket and offered him very few chances in Test cricket. Hodge amassed more than 17,000 runs in first-class cricket with 51 centuries and in return was rewarded with only six Tests.

So, he focused on T20 cricket and found his mojo in this format. His success lay in his innovative stroke play and ability to milk runs from good deliveries as well.

He has more than seven thousand runs in T20s and has remained a prolific run-scorer in this arena.

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Edited by Anuradha Santhanam