In the history of cricket, there have been many instances where two brothers have played alongside each other, most popularly the Waugh’s (Steve, Mark) and the Chapell’s (Ian, Greg and Trevor). Father-son duos are also a common phenomenon in International cricket, the most popular Indian’s among them being former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar and his son Rohan Gavaskar.
Comparing the duo, Sunil Gavaskar has achieved far more than what his son could have ever imagined. Roger Binny’s international record was also quite impressive, his son Stuart is till trying hard to book a permanent berth in the Indian cricket team. Former Australian player Geoff Marsh’s both sons, Shaun and Mitchell play for the national team and have been reasonably successful. But what about going the other way around?
Let us have a look at 5 instances where the son was more successful than their fathers:
#1 Walter Hadlee and Richard Hadlee
Richard Hadlee is termed as of the best fast bowlers of all-time, and his presence in the team made New Zealand a force to reckon with. He was the first player to reach 400 Test wickets, and along with his hard-hitting skills, was named as one of the four greatest all-rounders of his time alongside Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, and Imran Khan.
Hadlee’s most remarkable performance was the one against Australia during the 1985-86 tour in Brisbane where he took 15 wickets in the match. The Kiwi was given knighthood in 1990 for his contribution to cricket and is also a former chairman of the New Zealand board of selectors.
Walter Hadlee may have played only 11 matches for New Zealand, but his contribution to the nation has still been immense. Apart from being a player, he was a captain, selector and also the manager of the team from Down Under. Born in Christchurch to a blacksmith father, he was into rugby and cricket.
Hadlee led the Kiwi’s to their tour of England in 1937, and played his last match in March 1951, and has one century to his name. Walter passed away in Christchurch on September 29, 2006, at the age of 91.
#2 Iftikhar Ali Khan and Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi
Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi took charge of the Indian cricket team at a tender age of 21, a few months after he lost the vision in his right eye due to a car accident. The charismatic right-handed batsman was one of the best captains the country ever had and led the Indian team to its first overseas Test victory in 1967. He played 46 Test matches and scored 2,793 runs at a moderate average of 34.91 including 6 centuries, and a top score of unbeaten 203 against England at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi.
Iftikhar Ali Pataudi is the only cricketer to have played Test matches for both India and England, although his International career lasted for only six matches. Having made a century in his debut innings for England during their tour to Australia in 1932, he played three Tests for the European nation. Ifthikar played his last match for England in 1934, and about 12 years later, in 1946 he played three Tests for India but failed to make a mark, thus leaving Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi with the better record amongst the two.
#3 Peter Pollock and Shaun Pollock
Shaun Pollock was one the leading fast bowlers of his time, and along with his batting skills, he was the perfect all-rounder every team would have loved to have. The bowling duo of Alan Donald and Pollock was a nightmare to every batsman during the 90s. The Port-Elizabeth born was shouldered with the responsibility of leading the Proteas after Hansie Cronje was suspended on match-fixing allegations but most will remember him for his bowling skills.
Pollock played 108 Tests, and is still South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in Tests with 421 scalps and also has two centuries to his name with an impressive batting average of 32.31. With 387 ODI wickets, he also tops the highest wicket-takers list for the African nation in the 50-over format too. The dynamic all-rounder retired from International cricket in 2008 after a tryst with T20 cricket.
Similar to his son, Peter was also the leading fast bowler for South Africa of his era and provided the African side with the force to compete with the best. Though he was not as effective as his son, Shaun, became later on, Peter still managed to produce a few memorable performances. He played 28 Tests and picked up 116 wickets with a career best of 6/38 but was not as good with the bat as his son.
#4 Yograj Singh and Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh is widely regarded as one of the “Greatest all-rounders” India has ever produced. He stormed into International cricket in 2000 during the ICC Knockout Cup with a flawless 84-run inning against Australia. Following that, he was a regular in the ODI team and played several match-winning innings and also made vital contributions with the ball as well. The southpaw was involved in a memorable partnership with Mohammad Kaif in the 2002 Natwest Trophy final against England which India won chasing 326.
During the 2007 ICC World T20, he hit six 6s in an over against England and was a huge help to India’s world title. Four years later, Yuvraj performed extraordinarily in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and was even awarded the “Player of the Tournament.” So far, the Chandigarh-born has played 293 ODIs and scored 8,329 runs at an average of 36.37, and has also featured in 40 Tests.
Yograj Singh was a promising right-arm medium pace bowler for Punjab who got his break during India’s tour to Down Under in 1980/81. He was included in the team for the Test match against New Zealand in Wellington, where he took only 1 wicket in the match. Unfortunately, it was the only Test Yograj played. Earlier in that tour, he also featured in five ODIs also but failed to impress and took only 4 wickets.
#5 Micky Stewart and Alec Stewart
Alec Stewart made his ODI debut in 1989 against Sri Lanka and was the most capped (133 Tests) English player before Alastair Cook overtook him with 134 caps in the on-going Test match between England and Bangladesh. He was an aggressive opening batsman and kept the wicket occasionally, but due to poor batting qualities of Jack Russell, he was retained in the team as the primary wicket-keeper.
Stewart played his last International match in 2003, having already scored 8,463 runs in Tests and 4,677 in One-Day Internationals. The right-hander has a career best of 190 in Tests, which he scored against Pakistan in 1992.
Like his son, Micky Stewart was also an opening batsman and specialised short-leg fielder. Having played county cricket throughout his career for Surrey, he made his debut for the side in 1954, scoring a century against Pakistan in the match. Mickey made his International debut against the same nation in 1962, when he was 30 years, and played eight consecutive Test matches and toured India in 1963-64 as vice-captain. In his short International career, he only scored two half-centuries.
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