10 Players who were successful in different batting positions

A spot in the XI is a team’s gift to a player. Versatility is the player’s gift to the team. Given how the vagaries of sport throw a million permutations and combinations, the best teams are those which have a blend of the specialists and the versatile players.Test cricket is a game of specialists, but there are two types of versatile players who have proved invaluable to the team. There are all-rounders who can bat and bowl and then there are those batsmen who can bat at different positions. Interestingly, one of the basic purposes of this exercise is to probe the numbers raked up by greats and see how they came, where they came and how differently they came – a tale of skills, grit and guts that gets veiled by other paraphernalia that stats throw up.Some players deserve a special mention for that unique tenacity to last anywhere, score anywhere. Every team needs at least one man who could bat at multiple positions. It helps in quite a few ways:Makes it tougher for opponents to plan a strategyHelps you nurture younger players by shielding themHelps you attack or defend based on the conditionsThe team’s covered when an important player is out because of injury or has had to retire.It could also help with left and right combination.The game has seen some players who added an aura to a specific position. Sachin Tendulkar at No.4, Jacques Kallis at No.3, Shivnarine Chanderpaul at No.5, etc. were legendary with tons of runs and innumerable tons. But, it is also worthwhile to take a look at those players who were versatile and played at different positions and were successful. So, what defines success at multiple positions?At least 500 runs in a particular position (to make sure we have a decent sample size)An average of at least 40 at each of the positions. This is really tough to achieve. Only a select few players in the history of the game have scored at more than an average of 40 at three different positions with 10 innings in the minimum. Rahul Dravid, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Inzamam-ul-Haq are players who just fall short of all the criteria despite scoring sizeable number of runs at multiple positions.Truly great batsmen were those who averaged over 40 at each of the three positions and over 50 in at least one position.It is to be noted that sometimes, some batsmen had quite a few innings lower than their preferred position, like No.6 instead of No.5 because of the night-watchman scenario which changes the order.Here are greats, who really stand out amidst tons and tons of numbers. Mind you, this is not an exhaustive list and there are a few others who satisfy the above results, but these players are amongst the most predominant in the contemporary context.It hasn’t been possible to cover all players who satisfy the criteria from years gone by. Vinoo Mankad, for instance, remains the only Indian to have batted at all position from 1 to 11.

#11 Honourable Mention - Rahul Dravid and Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Rahul Dravid – Two great batsmen who played wherever their team needed them to

	Innings	Runs	Average	50s/100s
No.1&2	23	807	42.47	4/1
No.3	219	10524	52.88	50/28
No.5	11	308	38.5	1/1
No.6	8	413	68.83	2/1

 

Famously called ‘the wolf who lived for the pack’ by Harsha Bhogle, Dravid, the quintessential team man, is the one player who’ll always have a team’s back. He battled the toughest conditions in Tests laying foundations for many a great Test wins at home and abroad. Scoring 13288 runs in 164 matches, Dravid finished with an average of 52.31, with 99 50+ scores, with a record for most balls faced in Test cricket by any batsman.

The record holder for most catches on the field, Dravid also moved up and down a fair bit, in spite of raking up the second most number of runs for a No.3 batsman. He opened the innings when India had trouble finding a reliable opener. He moved down to No.6 when they needed Laxman’s crisp and fluent stroke-play at No.3. He moved back to No.3 when India had to battle with solidity in alien conditions.

Dravid had brilliant averages opening and at No.3 and No.6. He fell marginally short at No.5. Dravid though scored more than 500 runs only at two positions and was one of India’s permanent fixtures at No.3.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul has been the bedrock of the West Indian middle order getting better like wine, with age, holding his team through its worst phases, especially after the retirement of greats like Brian Lara and Carl Hooper. Chanderpaul with a unique stance and innocuous presence is the architect of some great West Indian victory and rescue missions.

Handling the tail-end and running out of partners was a common sight before his unceremonious exit, when he was dropped in favour of youngsters who had hardly done much to nudge the great man out.

	Innings	Runs	Average	50s/100s
No.4	42	1233	34.25	7/2
No.5	151	6883	56.41	35/19
No.6	49	2528	64.82	16/7
No.3	29	925	34.25	6/1