Is there any cricketer who started his career as a batsman but ended as a bowler or vice-versa?

 Category- 1 : Started as a Batsman, ended being a Bowler (Few)

1. Ravi Ashwin would be the Best example- Started as an Opening Batsman, but is (was rather) Dhoni’s Go-to man and India’s strike Bowler.

2. Shahid Afridi who made a world record for the fastest century is now remembered more for his faster ones :P

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3. Ravindra Jadeja- It would be gross injustice to exclude Sir Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja from the List, who holds an enviable record of scoring 3 Triple Centuries in First Class Cricket. In the process he equalled Sir Don Bradman’s Tally and became the first Indian to do so (Something which even Dravid, Gavaskar and Sachin failed to do), That too at an age of just abt 23 :O

However, of late he has struggled with the bat (and has ended up being the butt of the SIR Jokes) and plays in d team as a Bowling All rounder. In the South Africa Series, his role was dat of a specialist Spinner.

Category- 2: Started as a Bowler, ended being a Batsman

1. Steve Smith- who would have believed that a Baby faced leg spinner with Warnesque action would go on to become the No.1 test Batsman in the world and equal Bradman for centuries in 4 consecutive tests. Add captaining Australia and scoring 3 centuries in first 3 matches.

2. Mark Richardson- started his career as a Left Arm Spinner, batting at No. 10 but went on to open in Tests for New Zealand.

3. Shoaib Malik- An off spinner with a Saqlain like action turned into a reliable batsman for Pakistan.

4. Scott Styris- Started his career as Medium Fast bowler and his Maiden ODI wicket was that of Sachin himself. Slowly he turned into a reliable Middle order Batsman.

Then, there are other contenders like Jayasuriya, Shane Watson, James Franklin, Cameron White for the 2nd Category

Which is the best inning played by an Indian batsman outside India?

 

Sunil Gavaskar's 221 at The Oval in 1979?

Yes, easily.

But unfortunately for Sunny, some bad captaincy decisions from the Indian captain Venkatraghavan screwed the pooch with all his efforts just ending in a draw that pushed that score way behind in rankings.

Remember, Sunny scored that in the 4th innings on English wickets chasing a 400+ total

There have been only 6 players in the entire history of cricket who have scored a double hundred in the 4th innings. Sunny’s score is 2 runs behind George Headley and 1 run behind Nathan Astle.

And remember this…

Gordon Greenidge, one of the 6 to have scored a double in the 4th innings, scored 214* against England in 1984 and WI won and that put Greenidge’s innings in the Wisden rankings 21 of the greatest Test innings of all time. Sunny’s innings is 74th on the list but not top 10. The only Indian batsman on the top 10 is VVS Laxman for his 281 in 2001.

The difference between Greenidge & VVS Laxman and Sunny is the result. Had India won, Sunny ‘s innings would be in the top 5 greatest innings of all time ( Laxman’s innings is in the 6th spot) above Greenidge’s 21st spot and above Laxman. Wisden rankings are weighted on the results.

Greenidge’s innings chased a total of under 350. Sunny’s score chased 438 and ended up 9 runs short for a draw.

So yes, without a shadow of doubt, that is the greatest innings played by an Indian batsman outside India. The only other innings that rises to that calibre is Laxman’s innings but his was in Kolkata not at the Kennington Oval.