In the game of cricket, it is absolutely imperative for the team to have batsmen, bowlers, fielders and a wicketkeeper in order to play the game. As far as the bowling unit is concerned, we have pacers and spinners in every team.
Each and every team have the required amount of bowlers at their disposal. When a pacer fails to extract from the surface, then the spinners will do the job and dominate the proceedings.
At times, we have seen fast bowlers who have also bowled spin, which is considered quite a rare-case scenario. This additional skill helped them earn the tag of ‘versatile’ bowler. Now, in this article, we will take a glimpse at the two pacers who also bowled spin.
1. Andrew Symonds
Former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was one of the key players of the national cricket team. Besides his attacking batting skills, he was also best known for his bowling credentials.
Andrew Symonds was a right-arm medium pacer and in some instances, he even chipped in with right-arm off-breaks. He took 24 wickets in the longest format of the game, 133 wickets in One-Day Internationals and eight wickets in Twenty20 Internationals.
Notably, he took one five-wicket haul and two four-wicket-hauls in One-Day Internationals. On the other hand, he took 20 wickets to his name in the cash-rich Indian Premier League.
2. Sir Garry Sobers
Sir Garry Sobers was one of the vital cogs of the West Indies’ national set-up. He represented the national cricket team between 1954 and 1974. Notably, he was an exceptional all-rounder during the playing days of his cricketing career.
Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers played 93 Tests in his cricketing career wherein he scored 8032 runs at an average of 57.8 including 26 centuries and 30 half-centuries to his name.
Not many know that the West Indies legend had three bowling styles. It is worth mentioning that he owns a record for the most wickets taken by a bowler with various bowling styles. He bagged 236 international wickets by bowling left-arm pace, left-arm wrist spin and slow left-arm in his cricketing career.
