There are 2 different departments that make up the game of cricket, one is the batting and the other is the bowling apart from a specialist role, wicket-keeper. While these are the primary aspects in the sport, the one who creates a balance for the side in any format, is the player who delivers with bat and the ball. Such individuals are known as the all-rounders and they form crucial part of the team’s success.
This is because, an all-rounder can contribute in more ways than one and their role is more important in the longest format of the game, ie Test cricket. Such a player is deemed an invaluable to the team as they can turn the match on its head either with bat or the balls and hence they can be termed as match-winners for a side. It can be either through a sizable contribution with the bat or picking crucial wickets as a bowler. It is also the all-rounders who ranks top in the list of the top-rated bookmakers in India.
Here in this article, we will discuss about the players who have played a stellar role with bat (scoring a century score) and ball (taking a10-for in both innings together) in the same Test. Only 4 cricketers have done this in Test cricket, which makes this particular milestone even more appreciable
Alan Davidson (Australia) – 124 runs and 11 wickets vs West Indies, Brisbane 1960
The very first player to make the double of scoring 100 or more in a Test match and then coupling with a 10-wicket haul in the same game was Australia’s Alan Davidson. In what was a famous first-ever Tied Test at the Gabba, Davidson bowled a long and gruelling spell of 30 overs picking 5/135 in a high-scoring first innings.
He followed that up with a useful 44 with the bat in Australia’s first essay as they overhauled the visitors’ total. The left-arm pacer shined again in the 2nd innings picking 6/84 before top-scoring with an important 80 in thar crucial run-chase of 233 which eventually ended in a Tie.
Though, these stunning numbers didn’t quite yield a win for the Aussies, but he will be etched in the history for his contributions in this historic game.
Ian Botham (England) – 114 runs and 13 wickets vs India, Wankhede 1980
One of the greatest all-rounders of all time, Ian Botham had a perfect Test match against India in 1980 where he scored a century and picked a 10-wicket haul in the same game. First up, he ran through the hosts batting order by picking 6/58 and helped England bowl out India for a meagre 242. Then with the bat, his stunning 114 gave a crucial 54-run lead to India before he returned to better his first inning performance by picking 7/48 in the second.
India could gain just a 95 lead as a result of Botham’s spectacular show and England won the Test by 10 wickets.
Imran Khan (Pakistan) – 117 runs and 11 wickets vs India, Faisalabad 1983
Roughly 3 years later, India were once again in the wrong of all-round brilliance from a player and this time it was Imran Khan. In a Test held at Faisalabad back in 1983, the former Pakistani skipper produced one of his best efforts against the arch rivals. Having started brilliantly with ball by dismissing Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar early in the piece, Imran Khan (6/98) returned to clean up India’s middle-order that looked threatening to post a big score. His efforts restricted the visitors to 372 and Pakistan scored a massive 652 runs when it was their time to bat.
Imran (117) was one of the four Pakistani batters to hit a century and picked yet another five wicket haul (5/82) to keep down India’s 2nd innings to mere 6 runs. This helped Pakistan achieve one of their finest Test wins against India by 10 wickets.
Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh) – 143 runs and 10 wickets vs Zimbabwe, Khulna 2014
It took more than 30 years for the next player to emulate this feat and Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan was the one who achieved a rare double of scoring over 100 runs & taking 10 or more wickets in the same Test match. He did so against Zimbabwe, where in his century in first innings (137) propelled the hosts to a mighty 433 and coupled it with a solid bowling effort where he took 5/80 that wouldn’t Zimbabwe to overhaul the Bangladesh’s first innings total.
Though Shakib could muster 6 runs in their 2nd essay, his performance in the first innings was enough to set up a huge fourth innings target of 314 runs for Zimbabwe. The champion all-rounder continued his good work with the ball as he snapped yet another fifer (5/44) to give his a massive 162 run win.
