5 cricketers who bowled with both hands

Ambidexterity is a trait which has existed in cricket for a long time now. The most common examples one can come across is a player batting right-handed and bowling with his left arm and vice versa. The rarest form of this trait has been batsmen playing with both hands, the only memorable instance being Kevin Pietersen's switch hit.Another unique form of ambidexterity in cricket has been that of cricketers bowling with both hands in the same match. Instances of this have been very few in cricketing history and even fewer in international cricket.Here are 5 interesting occurences of ambidextrous bowling in cricket:

#1 Hanif Mohammad

The Pakistani great was a multi-talented cricketer

Hanif Mohammad is known to be Pakistan's first batting superstar and had a glittering career for his country. Being a multi-talented cricketer, Hanif also possessed skills other than his batting such as keeping wickets and bowling right-arm off-spin.

He was not a regular bowler, but did roll his arm over every now and then. But a fact that people may not know about the Pakistani legend could bowl with both hands. In the same match where Garfield Sobers scored his then record 365 not out, Hanif Mohammad did bowl a few left-armers just for a change.

#2 Graham Gooch

Gooch could bowl with both hands

Former England and Essex batting legend Graham Gooch is one of the best batsmen to have represented his country. Apart from being exceptional with the bat, Gooch also used to be a more than handy right-arm medium pacer during his playing days.

The Englishman managed to pick up 23 wickets in his 118-Test long career with a best of 3 for 39. A special skill that Graham Gooch possessed was his ability to bowl with his left hand too; however, he made it a point to display this talent only in matches that were predictable stalemates.

#3 Hashan Tillakaratne

Hashan Tillakaratne displayed his rare skill in an ODI

Hashan Tillakaratne had a very decent career as a left-handed batsman for Sri Lanka and represented his country in 83 Tests and 200 ODIs. Tillakaratne could also bowl some decent right-arm off-spin, but bowled on rare occasions, that too primarily in ODI cricket.

But the fact that he is ambidextrous as a bowler was revealed in a match in the 1996 World Cup. It was the Sri Lanka-Kenya encounter where the Lankans registered a then ODI highest score of 398. In the last over of the Kenya innings, Hashan Tillakaratne bowled both right-arm and left-arm since the result was a foregone conclusion.

#4 Akshay Karnewar

Akshay Karnewar bowled ambidextrously in the Vijay Hazare Trophy

Vidarbha left-arm spinner Akshay Karnewar is currently playing his debut season in Indian domestic cricket and has respresented his team in List A and T20 matches. Karnewar was Vidarbha’s most successful bowler in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 16 wickets from just 7 List A games.

Other than his performance, the youngster has also caught everyone’s eye with his ability to bowl with both hands. Akshay Karnewar’s skill was on full display in the matches he has played so far as he kept altering his arm to adjust to different handed batsmen, much to the amazement of everyone witnessing.

#5 Kamindu Mendis

Mendis looks to be quite serious about his ambidextrous spinner trade

The ongoing Under-19 World Cup in Bangaldesh has had its own rendezvous with ambidextrous bowling in the form of Sri Lankan spinner Kamindu Mendis. 17-year old Mendis is a right-arm offbreak bowler and slow left-arm orthodox spinner at the same time.

In his second match at the Under-19 World Cup against Afghanistan, Mendis picked up 3 for 36 and helped his team win the match with ease. Kamindu Mendis has a lot of time in hand to perfect his rare skill, however, it will be interesting to see if he can inspire the introduction of ambidexterity as a serious trade in international cricket.