5 cricketers who started as bowlers but became successful batsmen

5. Shahid Afridi

Shahid Afridi’s case is an unusual one and quite different from the others mentioned above. He was drafted into Pakistan’s squad as a 16-year-old due to his quickish leg-break. However, in just his second ODI, he smashed a 37-ball hundred against Sri Lanka which was the fastest ODI century- a record he retained for 17 years until Corey Andersen’s 36-ball hundred in 2014.

Afridi had a strange batting style. He used to go after the bowlers from the very beginning no matter what the situation was. He was often criticised for his lack of temperament. However, he has made a name for himself as one of the best all-rounders produced by his country. As a bowler, he had an ability to rush through the overs. He could bowl quick leg-breaks along with the occasional googlies. His best bowling figures came against West Indies when he sent 7 of their batsmen back to the pavilion whilst conceding only 12 runs.

Despite his bowling capabilities, his popularity in the cricketing world was solely because of his aggressive and entertaining batting. In 398 ODIs, he managed to score 8064 runs at a strike rate of 117.01. Interestingly, 5022 of these runs have come in the form of boundaries. The batting prowess of Afridi knows no bounds and his statistics are a proper indication of the fact.