10 all-rounders who played for a long time

It requires tremendous amounts of fitness, and a consistent grip over your game to play international cricket for a long time. While fast bowlers break down easily, and have relatively smaller careers due to the physical stress involved, batsmen are generally able to stretch their career longer, often by giving up one form of the game.

All-rounders are one of the most fascinating species in cricket; they fit easily into the team, do double the work, and lend lots of balance to the side. Here's a look at ten remarkable all-rounders of the game, who played at the top-most level for a long time, and tasted enough success to become legends of the game:

1. Jacques Kallis

The Rock of Gibraltar from South Africa was the fundament of the Proteas' batting lineup for close to two decades. With a rock-solid technique, coupled with a fluent range of shots, Kallis could adapt his batting to any condition and form of the game.

Apart from his assured and dependable batting, he was known for his more-than-useful medium pace, which might have had lost speed as his career progressed but he was a quality-partnership breaker and ideal fifth-bowler material.

Add to that his prowess as a slip catcher, and Kallis was a complete player. He ended his eighteen-year career as the third highest run-getter in Tests, and 565 international wickets.

2. Shahid Afridi

With Shahid Afridi, you can never be sure. Be it his nerveless batting, or countless retirements, one could expect anything from Afridi. He was consistently inconsistent with the bat, churning out sporadic innings of sheer brilliance amid a torrent of low scores.

His bowling was assured, and at one point in his career, match-winning. With a clever repertoire of leg spin, googly and flipper, Afridi managed to bamboozle quite a lot of batsmen over the years. He has more than 8000 ODI runs, and 395 ODI wickets to his name.

Twenty years since his scintillating international debut for Pakistan, he still plays T20 cricket for the team, although he has retired from the Test and ODI format.

3. Imran Khan

One of the most complete all-rounders of the modern game, he inspired a generation of Pakistani youngsters to become cricketers. At the age of 39, and in the twilight of his starry career, Imran managed to shrewdly use his resources to win the 1992 World Cup.

Imran achieved the all-rounders triplet (3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests) in 75 Tests, just three Tests more than Ian Botham's record. He took 362 wickets, and averaged 38 with the bat, scoring six Test tons.

His good looks and charismatic personality made him the darling of the crowd, as well as fodder for controversial tabloids. Yet, nothing can take away his immense contribution to the game, and Pakistani cricket in particular. He played for more than twenty years at the international level.

4. Chris Cairns

The New Zealand team of the 90s and early 2000s was made up of several bits and pieces cricketers, but seldom could someone alter the course of a game as radically as Cairns. One of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball, Cairns used to clear the boundary at will.

In 2004, he surpassed Vivian Richards for most sixes in a Test career. When he was not up to his six-hitting spree, Cairns was an effective medium pacer, although injuries resulted in a drop in speed, even as he resorted to variations, including a difficult-to-pick slower ball.

If it weren't for injuries, he could have played way more than the 62 Tests he managed. In a fifteen year Test career, he missed a total of 55 matches.

5. Sir Garry Sobers

Hailing from Barbados, Sir Garry Sobers is arguably the greatest all-rounder of all times. The first batsman to hit six sixes in an over in First Class cricket, Sobers finished with an astounding average of 57.78 from 93 Tests. He started off as a bowler, but displayed his immense batting prowess as a 21-year old, en route to 365 against Pakistan, the highest individual score in Tests then.

In all, he compiled 26 Test tons in a twenty-year long career.

His bowling was not limited to a particular specialty, as he could bowl left-arm orthodox spin and wrist spin, or could even open the bowling with his medium pace. The prodigious talent helped him snare 235 Test victims, including six five-wicket hauls. He was also a brilliant close catcher, and an exceptional fielder overall.

6. Shaun Pollock

Starting off as a new ball partner to Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock quickly carved a niche of his own, especially because of his ability to swing the ball both ways. He wasn't express, but bowled at a nagging pace, extracting enough movement to disconcert batsmen round the world.

He was a more than useful lower-order batsman, known for getting quick runs in the closing stages of the innings. He had two Test tons and an ODI ton to his name, and batted at an average of 32 in Tests.

A back injury hampered his career to go beyond the age of 34, yet Pollock enjoyed 13 years at the international level, ending with 421 Test victims, the most by a South African.

7. Kapil Dev

One of the greatest fast bowlers produced by the Indian team, Kapil Dev was the cornerstone of India's success in the 1983 World Cup. A veteran of 131 Tests and 225 ODIs, Kapil Dev went past Richard Hadlee's Test record of 431 Test victims in the seventeenth year of his international career, not a mean feat for a fast bowler, considering he hardly ever missed a match due to injury.

His batting was enterprising, and he would often have to bat with the lower-order and farm the strike. On occasions, he would single-handedly change the momentum of the game with the bat.

One such instance was the World Cup fixture against Zimbabwe in 1983, where he hauled India out of trouble at 17-5, and scored a masterful unbeaten 175 off 138 balls, which eventually was enough for a victory. He ended with nine international tons in total, and a legacy that few could match.

8. Daniel Vettori

The bespectacled left-arm spinner from New Zealand was a constant in their line-up throughout the 2000s.

A shrewd bowler, he was famous for his unerring accuracy and subtle variations, qualities that helped him scalp 667 international wickets. At the age of 18, he became the youngest Test cricketer for the Black Caps.

He is one of only eight players to manage the double of 300 Test wickets and 3000 runs.

He developed into a useful lower-order batsman, and finished his Test career with more than 4000 Test runs at an average of 30, which included six centuries, with him batting as low as the Number 8 position. He also had four half-centuries in ODIs.

9. Sir Ian Botham

Botham was one of the most complete all-rounders of the game, and his larger than life persona made him one of the superstars of English cricket. He could change the path of a game alone, either with the ball, especially the outswinger which he was famous for, or his truculent batting, which helped him score 14 Test tons.

In 1986, he beat Dennis Lillee's record of 355 wickets to become the highest-wicket taker in Tests. He ended with 383 wickets in Tests and 145 in ODIs. Apart from that, he accumulated more than 5000 runs in Tests and 2000 runs in ODIs.

More than the numbers though, it was the impact that he made to English cricket in the 1980s was what set him apart from the rest. In the final part of his career, he became bulkier, and less effective, but still managed to stretch his career beyond the 1992 World Cup, playing for fifteen years at the International level.

10. Sir Richard Hadlee

New Zealand owe a lot to Richard Hadlee; he single-handedly led the team to success in the Test arena, primarily on the back of his searing pace and bounce. Later during his career, he gave up speed for accuracy, and used his skills to out-think batsmen.

He became the first bowler to go past the 400-wicket landmark in Tests, and added a further 31 before finishing his career at the age of 39. That included 36 five-wicket hauls and nine 10-wicket hauls. In the 115 ODIs he played, he picked up 158 ODI victims, with 5 five-wicket hauls.

He was talented with the bat too, with a stroke-filled and aggressive batting style, one which helped him score a couple of Test tons and fifteen fifties. He scored a career best unbeaten 151 against the Sri Lankans in 1987, at number 7.

He became the first player to be conferred the knighthood while still playing the game. He retired from cricket in 1990, 17 years after his international debut.