3 Test match specialists who made a great impact in ODI Cricket
Cricket has always been a challenging sport, where the fight between the bowlers and the batsmen is eternal. Batsmen have managed to decipher every mystery ball devised by the bowlers and the bowlers have always found a way to fox the batsmen with new variations.
To master the art of batting or bowling, it takes tons of dedication, hard work and persistence. Moreover, all the 3 formats of cricket demand different approach, skills and mindset to succeed. The batsmen find it very difficult to adapt from the shorter version of the game to the longer ones and vice-versa.
However, there are some immensely talented players who have been specialists in one format but have surprisingly managed to make an impact in the other formats are well.
Here are 3 legendary players, who were thought of as a 'Test specialist' and their success in the shorter version of the game was a surprise.
#3 Younis Khan
Younis Khan came into the limelight when he managed to score a fighting hundred in the second innings of his debut Test match against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi in 2000, though his phenomenal performance could not save the match for his side.
Younis continued to impress in the longest version of the game, as he amassed 10099 Test runs at a solid average of 52.06. However, his success in One-Day cricket was doubted by many, but Younis proved his potential with the bat in the shorter format as well.
Younis represented Pakistan in 265 One-Day Internationals, scoring 7249 runs at a decent average of 31.25 and an impressive strike-rate of 75.29.
#2 Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene is one of the finest batsmen in the history of international cricket and belongs to the elite club of cricketers to score more than 10,000 runs in both formats of the game.
Jayawardene played numerous memorable knocks for Sri Lanka since his debut in 1997 and was best known for his ability to play the 'sheet anchor' role. Jayawardene's Test match performance was always top notch and the 6 double hundreds he scored in this format is a concrete evidence of this fact.
Jayawardene struggled in the shorter version of the game during his initial years and his fitness for this format was often questioned. However, his perseverance and hard-work yielded him the desired result and he managed to accumulate 12650 runs at an average of 33 in the 448 One-Day internationals he played for Sri Lanka.