4 players who were labelled as Test players but mastered T20s
T20 cricket is all about fours and sixes. People watch T20 to see batsmen hit the ball out of the ground and this was the primary reason why there was a fear that only big hitters and batsmen who can tonk the ball will survive. The fact that there is very little time for a batsman to settle down, there was a general belief that classical batsmen who play cricket in Test mode and aren't habituated of scoring quick runs, will become irrelevant in T20 cricket.
But this belief has turned into a misconception. Some of the players who were labelled as Test players and who rely more on technique than power, have been highly successful in T20 cricket and in IPL in particular.
These players have showed the importance of good and sound technique. T20 cricket has also changed since it's inception. Teams all over the world have realised that T20 is not all about big hits and that they need players who can construct an inning providing platform for a good score.
Also, these players have improved their own game and have shown the ability to play according to the match situation. They moulded themselves into T20 mode and brought changes in their batting style. Here are 4 such players who were labelled Test cricketers but have aced T20 cricket.
#4 Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene is one of the greatest Sri Lankan cricketers to play the game. Jayawardene has played 149 tests and 448 ODIs for Sri Lanka. He has always been considered as a great test player, but his ODI credentials were never too eye-catching.
The right-hand batsman has a modest average of 33.38 and a mediocre strike-rate of 78.97, because of which people thought he won't be a great T20 player. But he proved everyone wrong. In the 55 T20s that Jayawardene played for Sri Lanka, he scored at an average of 31.77 and an impressive strike-rate of 133.18. He played a crucial role in Sri Lanka's maiden World T20 win in 2014.
The former Sri Lankan skipper also performed exceedingly well for different IPL franchises. Jayawardene reworked on his batting approach in T20 and became an asset for every team he played for.