5 cricketers who opened both batting and bowling consistently

Neil Johnson
Neil Johnson opened the bowling in ODIs on a regular basis

In the long and illustrious history of the gentleman’s game,some players have often exhibited special skills with both bat and ball which left the spectators bewildered. Starting the proceedings with either the bat or ball is always a challenging task and if a player does that in the same match then it surely is a commendable feat. There have been many a time when a cricketer had to start the proceedings with both bat and ball and the particular player surely deserves plaudits for his humongous efforts.

Our research helped us come with five of the best ones who have done it on a consistent basis and make a list of them. We considered players who did it more than 10 times in any of the formats and because of that reason we had to drop names like Irfan Pathan, Sunil Gavaskar, Lance Klusener and many others who also opened the bowling and batting in the same match

Here is the list of the 5 players:

#5 Neil Johnson

Neil Johnson
Neil Johson scored a magnificent hundred against Australia in the 1999 World Cup

The talented Zimbabwean all-rounder Neil Johnson had a short but impactful international career in which he scaled great heights. A naturally-gifted all-rounder rose to fame during the 1999 Cricket World Cup when he won three Man-of-the-Match awards.

Johnson on several occasions had opened the bowling and batting in many ODIs and did a decent job of it as well. In a game against Australia in the 1999 World Cup at the mecca of cricket, Lord’s, he scored a brilliant 132 whilst also picking up 2 wickets to send shivers down the Australia’s’ spine.

Though Zimbabwe lost that game, Johnson was adjudged the man of the match for his exemplary performance. Johnson also achieved a rare feat when he opened both the batting and bowling, bowl ten overs and score a century against Pakistan in 1998. An attacking stroke-playing southpaw and a decent swing bowler- he was truly a lethal combo for the Zimbabwean cricket team back in the late nineties.to

#4 Mohammad Hafeez

Hafeez
Mohammad Hafeez opened the bowling for Pakistan on a number of occasions

The Pakistan cricketer used to open the bowling and batting for Pakistan in both Tests and ODIs and before he was banned from bowling, he was quite successful in donning both the roles.

Starting the proceedings with the ball, he was quite effective against the left-handers with his venomous off-spin. With the bat, Hafeez was more than a decent opener as he scored some important runs for his country across all the formats.

In the longest format, Hafeez dished out decent performances against Bangladesh and England while opening the batting and bowling for his team

#3 Tillakaratne Dilshan

Dilshan
Tillakaratne Dilshan is a more than decent off-spinner

Predominantly a batsman, Dilshan is more than a useful bowler as he has the happy knack of picking up wickets when it matters the most. Besides some memorable performances with the bat, Dilshan with his off-breaks and sliders did the job for Sri Lanka on quite a number of occasions; especially in the shorter formats.

Dilshan, a destructive opener, is known to provide rollicking starts to his side and with the ball, he was entrusted with the task of keeping it tight for the first few overs.

One of his memorable performances came in the 2nd final of the Commonwealth Bank Series 2012 when he finished with figures of 1 for 40 in his 10 overs and scored a magnificent 106 to win the game and level the Best of 3 final. Dilshan also became only the second player after Neil Johnson who to open both the batting and bowling, bowl ten overs and score a century.

2. ML Jaisimha

Jaisimha
ML Jaisimha used to roll his arms over in the opening overs

The prolific Indian cricketer of the past generation was a delight for the connoisseurs for his exquisite strokes. This Hyderabadi legend used to open the innings with the usual flair and panache and sometimes had to roll his arms over as well.

A part-time off-break bowler, Jaisimha picked up 9 wickets in his Test career. On 14 occasions for India in Tests, Jaisimha opened the proceedings with both bat and ball. He inspired a long generation of Hyderabad cricketers, including Mohammad Azharuddin who later became the captain of India.

Down under, Jaisimha’s prolific scores of 74 and 101 on the pacy Brisbane track in 1968 are still treasured by the purists.

1.Manoj Prabhakar

Prabhakar
Besides opening the bowling, Manoj Prabhakar used to open the batting as well

A typical swing-bowler, Prabhakar used to be quite handy with the new ball as he used to pick up early wickets. A decent lower-order batter was turned into a defensive opener for the team’s causes and he did a decent job.

He played 39 Tests and 130 ODIs for India and picked up 96 and 157 wickets respectively. Prabhakar has a decent batting record as well- batting in the opening position, he averaged 35.48 in Tests and 34.02 in ODIs which is higher than his career averages.

Prabhakar’s effort yielded benefits as India won quite a lot of Tests and ODIs using that team composition.

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Edited by Staff Editor