Unlike football, the heart of cricket lies in International tournaments. The highest focus is given to fixtures between two nations. Hence, usually, over a career, a player barely gets a chance to switch countries. However, there have been such instances. These cases have been mostly triggered due to a lack of opportunities in one nation or because of some other factors. The citizenship issues also add to the difficulty. Nevertheless, so far, in Tests, we have seen 15 cricketers play for two different international teams. In this article, we take a look at five popular players who have played for two International Teams in Tests.
1) Billy Murdoch – Australia and England
Statistics For Australia: Years – 1877 to 1890 || Matches – 18 || Runs – 896 || Avg – 32
Statistics For England: Years – 1892 || Matches – 1 || Runs – 12 || Avg – 12
Billy Murdoch was a legendary name at the break of 1900 in Australia. Fittingly so, he was inducted into the Australian Hall of Fame in 2019. Although he started his career as a wicket-keeper, he graduated as a specialist batsman. In the 18 games he played for Australia, he was the captain of the unit for 16 matches. When Ashes was introduced in 1882, Billy was part of the Aussie squad.
Later, after he settled in England and played well in domestic cricket, he got a chance to tour South Africa as an English cricketer. He played only match, though. He passed away at the age of 56 in 1911.
2) Nawab of Pataudi (Sr) – England and India
Statistics For England: Years – 1932 to 1934 || Matches – 3 || Runs – 144 || Avg – 28.80
Statistics For India: Years – 1946 || Matches – 3 || Runs – 55 || Avg – 11
I.A.K Pataudi is one of the popular players who have played for two International Teams in Tests. He happens to be the only cricketer who played for both England and India. While he captained Team India, his son Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi also skippered the nation.
For England, I.A.K Pataudi made his debut in the Ashes. In fact, on his Test debut, he scored a century, which was a terrific achievement. He played cricket late into his thirties but died at the age of 41 when he was involved in a game of Polo.
3) Abdul Hafeez Kardar – India and Pakistan
Statistics For India: Years – 1946 || Matches – 3 || Runs – 80 || Avg – 16 || Wickets – 0
Statistics For Pakistan: Years – 1952 to 1958 || Matches – 23 || Runs – 847 || Avg – 24.91 || Wickets – 21
The captain of Pakistan’s first-ever Test match in 1952, Abdul Hafeez Kardar played for Team India before Independence. A left-hand batter and bowler, while he picked 21 wickets for Pakistan, he could not manage a scalp while playing for India.
A dominant character, Abdul Hafeez Kardar led Pakistan to a win against all the then Test-playing nations except South Africa, with whom they did not play. He also served position as the President of the Pakistan Cricket Board in the past.
4) Kepler Wessels – Australia and South Africa
Statistics For Australia: Years – 1982 to 1985 || Matches – 24 || Runs – 1761 || Avg – 42.95
Statistics For South Africa: Years – 1992 to 1994 || Matches – 16 || Runs – 1027 || Avg – 38.03
Kepler Wessels is one of the most popular players who have played for two International Teams in Tests. He had a decent career for both Australia and South Africa, a feat which hardly any other cricketers on this list have managed to achieve.
For Australia, he scored a hundred on debut and averaged close to 43. He was one of the best performers when the nation toured West Indies. Later, after the ban on South Africa was lifted, Kepler returned to his nation as the captain. He later got into coaching, including a stint at Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2008.
5) Boyd Rankin – England and Ireland
Statistics For England: Years – 2014 || Matches – 1 || Wickets – 1 || Avg – 81
Statistics For Ireland: Years – 2018 || Matches – 1 || Wickets – 3 || Avg – 44
Boyd Rankin has had an interesting playing career. While he made his International debut for Ireland, in 2012, he decided that he would not play for his home nation so that he could play Test cricket for England. He got his chance at the Ashes series.
However, he was dropped due to inconsistent form, and Rankin made a switch back to Ireland. In 2018, he was part of the XI when Ireland played its first-ever Test match. He also played against England in a Test match in 2019.
