Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport, correct? But mainly not just batters or bowlers.
There are players like these who have equal performance in both batting and bowling, which results in an increase of their worth in a team. Such players are termed all-rounders.
But really what makes the player an all-rounder? In this article, we will take a look at the skills and attributes of an all-rounder in cricket.
What is an All-rounder in cricket?
An all-rounder is someone who can perform both batting and bowling whenever needed.
You see, most teams include specialist batters and bowlers, whose main job is to bat and bowl. Now, some of these batters may be good bowlers, while the bowlers may know how to hold an end for some time.
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But if a team is in a tight corner, they need one more batter or one more bowler. Now, according to the rules, a cricket team can only consist of 11 players, and there is no substitution unless there’s a concussion injury.
That’s when all-rounders come into play. Such players are better attuned to batting than the specialist bowlers and to bowling than the specialist batters.
Therefore, teams stock up on all-rounders and try to have 2-3 of them in the playing XI depending on the balance of their squad. However, all-rounders also have different categories among them based on their strengths.
The classification is not very difficult. It is based on each all-rounder’s basic skills and abilities.
Complete Genuine All-Rounders
The all-rounders in this category are equally skilled in both batting and bowling. And they can even be ranked as the top 6 batters and top 4 bowlers respectively in their teams.
Besides that, over the years, the significance of fielding in a player’s competence has also risen. So if a player is able to perform at par in all the roles, then he/she can be termed as a genuine all-rounder.
Batting All-Rounders
These kinds of players have batting as their main attribute, while bowling is their second skill. These kinds of batting all-rounders can even be part of the top 5 batters of their team while being the 5th or 6th bowlers.
Someone like Jacques Kallis from South Africa and Shane Watson from Australia are batting all-rounders.
Bowling All-Rounders
This is completely opposite to the case of batting all-rounders. The core strength of the bowling all-rounders is bowling while the opposite is true for batting.
Such all-rounders can contribute with the bat in the lower or middle order. Kapil Dev and Shaun Pollock were among the greatest bowling all-rounders.
