World Cup History: Five popular batsmen who picked up at least one wicket in WC
The second week of the 2019 World Cup was disappointing for most cricket fans as three games in four days were washed out. As a result, questions were raised over the scheduling of the tournament and the lack of reserve days. ICC have kept reserve days for only the semi-finals and the final.
Even with the rain around, there were some games which were worth watching - Australia against Pakistan and England versus the West Indies. What was common in both these games was that the batsmen, who were asked to bowl some part-time overs, ended up taking wickets. Aaron Finch came to bowl against Pakistan and picked up a wicket, with England's Joe Root doing the same against West Indies.
There have been previous instances of popular batsmen picking up wickets at a World Cup. So, let’s have a look at five such batsmen, who surprised many and picked up a wicket at cricket's biggest tournament.
#1 Stephen Fleming
The current generation knows Stephen Fleming more as a coach of the famous IPL outfit - the Chennai Super Kings. But he was a highly successful player before he started coaching. He played for a long time for New Zealand and was a part of four World Cup squads, with him being the captain in three of those.
Fleming was known as a pure batsman, who bowled very rarely. In their second World Cup match in 1996, when the Kiwis scored 307 against the Netherlands, Fleming came to bowl. New Zealand were winning the game easily and so, Fleming decided to roll over his arm. He bowled two overs and to everybody’s surprise, he picked up the wicket of MM Schewe, who was stumped. It was the only ODI wicket he picked up throughout his career.
Also read - Biggest world cup win