In the game of cricket, generally, the batsman and the bowlers are in the talks but the ones who are the actual X factors of the team are none other than all-rounders. All-rounders have an overall impact on the game in batting balling and also on the field with their athleticism chasing the ball. In today’s article, we will be speaking about the greatest all-rounders the world has witnessed and who made a huge impact to the Cricketing fraternity.
The first name that pops up in the list is of the South African all-rounder Lance Klusener. Zulu as he is popularly known as was on top of the world with the purplest patches of his form during the 1999 world cup. There was nothing he couldn’t have done during that time on the field. He was the highest wicket-taker of the tournament with 17 wickets at a mind-boggling average of 20.58. At the same time, he was the highest run-getter of the tournament for South Africa and amassed a total of 281 runs in the tournament at an average of 140.50 and a strike rate of 122.17. These figures were outstanding from an all-rounder point of view as Lance went about in the tournament with four Man of the Match awards with three of them coming in successive matches. The level of domination from this South African veteran was unmatchable and helped South Africa cross the finishing line in many close encounters owing to his power hitting and flashy bowling prowess. South Africa had managed to book a semi-final berth against the mighty Aussies where South Africa had to chase a target of 213 to book a place in the final.
Lance couldn’t do anything special with the ball and looking at the winning total things looked pretty simple for South Africa at one point but they dug up their graves and at one point found themselves reeling at 175/6 owing to an amazing bowling spell by the spin king Shane Warne. Wickets kept tumbling from the other end like a pack of cards but at one end stood Klusener determined to take his team through yet once again out of this dicey situation who was supported at the other end by the number 11 batsman Allan Donald. The final figure for victory came down to 9 off 6 deliveries with one wicket to spare for the Africans. Damien Fleming came in to bowl the last over and Lance started making a total mockery of him by blasting him for back to back boundaries in the first two deliveries completely overpowering the situation and bringing the required score to just a single off the remaining four deliveries. The South African fans and the dressing room were all ready to explode with joy when the world witnessed one of the biggest disappointments on the cricket field. Damien Fleming came in to bowl the third delivery which Lance couldn’t connect well and immediately refused a single to Donald who was halfway down the pitch but somehow made it back in time as the fielder failed to hit the stumps.
Donald a lot more conscious now, stood at the nonstriker’s end watching the fourth ball of the over hit by Lance go through instead of watching his partner calling out for a run. It was only after Lance had reached almost the other end that Donald realized and started running but by then it was too late as the wicketkeeper whipped off the bails and the match ended in a tie with Australia progressing into the finals as they had defeated South Africa in the Super Six stage. Although South Africa couldn’t make it through owing to this mishap Lance Klusener will forever be remembered for his magical performance throughout the tournament emerging as the most valuable player for his country. Currently, Klusener has been serving as the head coach for the Afghanistan national team since September 2019.
The second name that pops up in the list is the English veteran Andrew Flintoff. During the 2002 series against India Flintoff was on his level best with his all-round performances. England were already 3-1 down in the series comprising of 6 ODI’s and had to win the remaining matches to equalize and live up to their name. Till then Flintoff had been amazing with 3 wickets in 4 matches and some innings played down the order and some in the middle order adding valuable contributions wherever he batted. But as the popular saying goes “The worst brings out the best in you”. The worst arrived when England had to come back stronger to win the remaining matches in the series and “cometh the hour, cometh the man”. In the 5th ODI England went on to one flyer of a start thanks to a brilliant century by Knight but the finishing touches under pressure were applied by Andrew Flintoff who hit a quickfire 52 at a strike rate of 133.33 accounting to which England set India a target of 272 in their 50 overs. Coming onto the bat, India lost Tendulkar’s quite early but Dada and Sehwag kept things moong and kept the scoreboard ticking with Dada hitting an under pressure half-century. It was all looking a cakewalk at one moment when wickets started tumbling at one end although Kaif on the other end did his best to rampage a victory for India with Flintoff’s tight bowling and a crucial wicket of Dinesh Mongia, England snatched victory by a margin of just 2 runs.
Then came the last match of the tournament with the series stuck at 3-2, England went in first scoring 255 in their 50 overs owing to Trescothick’s amazing century and Flintoff’s yet another valuable contribution of 40 odd runs down the order under immense pressure. Once again India lost the little master a bit too early but Sehwag and Ganguly kept the run rate in check with Ganguly paving his way to yet another superbly made half-century. It went haywire at one point for India and came down to 11 required from the final over which was to be bowled by Flintoff with 2 wickets in hand. A well set Badani at the nonstriker’s end could do nothing but just watch Flintoff bowl one of the dream spell of his career dismissing both Kumble and Srinath in consecutive deliveries followed by the “taking out the shirt ” celebration in front of a shell shocked Wankhede. England had miraculously equalized the series 3-3 with Flintoff playing the role of the main man in the victories. The 2005 Ashes Victory over Australia had Flintoff’s name all over the news headlines for his astonishing play throughout the series having amassed 402 runs at an average of 40 and was England’s highest wicket-taker with 24 scalps and at impressive strike rate breaking England’s 10 years-long losing streaks in the Ashes. Since his retirement, he has started his fashion range and won the first series of the Australian version of “I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!”. He was a huge part of Sky One’s sports-based comedy panel show “A League of Their Own” and most recently became a presenter of the BBC Two show “Top Gear in 2019”.
Pakistani legend all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is another one on the list. He played 265 ODI’s and 45 tests for Pakistan. During the ’92 cricket world cup he raised eyebrows with his awesome all-round show scoring an excellent 60 runs with the bat and making a match-saving partnership with Inzamam ul Haq and in the match against West Indies bowled an outstanding spell of 3-32 owing to which Pakistan made their place in the next round of the tournament. His best Test bowling figures came against Sri Lanka when he had figures of 5-35. He was one of the legendary players for his country and has achieved the rare feat of scoring 1000runs and taking 100 wickets during his career. Post-retirement he has taken up to short stints of coaching domestic teams in Pakistan and also in the PSL.
Next in the list is the Kiwi all-rounder Chris Cairns. He had a prolific run in his Test career with a batting average of 33 and a bowling average of 29 and was adjudged as one of the five Wisden cricketers of the year in 2000. With the bat, he has played many memorable knocks for New Zealand including once against India in the 2000 ICC Knockout Trophy where his unbeaten century helped New Zealand defeat India in the finals of the tournament. He once held the record for the most sixes in Test cricket and also held the record for the fastest century by a Kiwi. His best bowling performance came against Windies in 1999 when he ran riot and ended with figures of 7 for 27 and is the sixth-highest wicket-taker for New Zealand in international cricket. This domination of the Kiwi makes him one of the legends of the game and one of the best all-rounders of all time.
Although his career wasn’t a happy ending as he was strangled with match-fixing allegations and is alleged to have attempted to manipulate games in India when he was captain of the Chandigarh Lions in the Indian Cricket League. His post-retirement life mainly comprises of court dates and he has been having a hard time, washing bus shelters to keep himself financially sound and to make ends meet.
Sri Lankan all-rounder Sanath Jayasuriya was one of a kind. Not a genuine all-rounder but he was then the captain of the Sri Lankan team and revolutionized the aggressive batting strategy for the coming generations with his marvelous batting prowess. But he was a super handy bowler too at the same time. He has over 300 ODI wickets and has more than four 5 wicket hauls in International cricket. He had the best bowling figures of 6-26 against Windies. He owned the stage during the 1996 world cup with his all-round performances and was termed as the most valuable player of the tournament. Moving on to modern-day all-rounders, there are names like Hardik Pandya and Chris Woakes that come up. These guys have been extremely fruitful for their teams and have proved to be the X factor on the field, be it batting bowling or fielding. These are the names which big domestic clubs usually look to imbibe in their starting 11’s considering their talent and prospects in cricket.
As of recently, India has found Hardik Pandya, Ben Strokes have been phenomenal helping his team to their maiden cricket world cup in 2019. He has also won the Wisden cricketer of the year 2019. Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham in the kiwi dressing room have also helped their team on numerous occasions. Australia has Glen Maxwell, Stoinis. Bangladesh has Shakib. All these players are a vital part of their respective teams as they contribute in all 3 fields, batting, bowling, and fielding.
Veterans and legendary players like Garfield Sobers, our very own Kapil dev, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Keith Miller, Ian Botham were the original pioneers of this all-round aspect of the game. It was their efforts that brought this beautiful game even more fame by their performance in all the three reals of cricket. Many of the young all-rounders have idolized these legends once in their lifetime as they were the ones who added even more meaning to this beautiful game: Cricket.
