Spinners taking wickets is always fascinating but what makes it even more intriguing is spinners scoring runs with bat. It is often an underappreciated aspect of the game. Their ability to score runs always add immense value to their teams and helps them with the ball. They maintain lower-order resilience or adds all-round value to the team. They are always an unpredictable weapon. They are a valuable asset of the game.
Here is a list of a few world-class spinners who have scored runs with their bat:
1. Shane Warne
Renowned for his exceptional leg-spin bowling, Shane Warne is a class-apart bowler. He is one of the most iconic players in the history of cricket. Warne has almost 1000+ wickets in international cricket and has also delivered the bowl of the century. What is entirely unknown about him is his batting. He has 4,173 runs in Test with almost 12 fifties.
2. Daniel Vettori
New Zealand’s one of the greatest cricketers, Daniel Vettori, is one of the best left-arm spinners in cricket history. He is one of the calmest people you come across. He has nearly 350+ wickets in tests and nearly 250+ in ODI’s. He is the first bowler from New Zealand to take nearly 400+ international wickets. He was one of the most valuable players on his team because of his contribution with the bat. Daniel has scored 6,989 runs in international cricket with almost 6 test centuries.
3. Ravichandran Ashwin
One of the most versatile cricketers from India, Ravichandran Ashwin, is one of the most smart cricketers who reads the game of cricket very well, a modern-day great all-rounder. Ashwin has taken nearly 700+ international wickets with his right-arm off-spin. He is also very handy with the bat. He has almost scored 4000+ runs in tests and more than 1000+ runs in ODIs with 5 test centuries and 10+ fifties. He is one of the most legendary players.
4. Anil Kumble
One of India’s most respected bowlers of all time, Anil Kumble, has left a massive impact on the Indian Bowling side. With almost 600+ test wickets and 300+ ODI wickets, he is one of the best bowlers of all time. With his persistence and intelligence, he has also scored many runs with the bat with almost 2500+ runs, Kumble has contributed many runs in the lower-order.
5. Shakib Al Hasan
One of the best all-rounders of modern-day cricket, Shakib Al Hasan, is one of the best spinners of Bangladesh. He is one of the vital players for his national team. Shakib has nearly 600+ wickets in ODI, 200+ in tests, and nearly 50 wickets in T20Is, and with the bat, he has almost 14000+ runs across all the formats of the game. Shakib also has multiple centuries and fifties in the longer format of the game, i.e., Tests and ODIs. His ability to adapt to all the techniques like batting, bowling, wicket-keeping, or even fielding has made him an impactful player.
6. Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh, famously known as the “Turbanator” contribution to Indian cricket is renowned everywhere and it goes beyond the wickets he took or the runs he has scored. His will to win every match he plays makes him what he is today. He has also been part of many controversies. He is the second-highest wicket taker in the tests for India with nearly 400+ wickets and in ODI’s nearly 250+ wickets. He also has 25 wickets in T20 matches. He is as good at batting as he is at bowling. He has scored over 3600 runs, including two test centuries.
7. Muttiah Muralitharan
Often called “Murali”, Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket. He holds the record for most wickets in the larger format i.e., in tests and ODIs. His bowling action is what made him quite famous amongst the fans. Not only with bowl, he has also contributed with bat. He has 800 test wickets, 534 wickets in ODIs, and 13 wickets in T20Is. He has also scored 1200+ runs with the bat. Muttiah Muralitharan is one of the most celebrated players of all time.
8. Rangana Herath
The legendary left-arm Sri Lankan bowler, Rangana Herath is one of the most successful bowlers in cricket history. He has vast impact on Sri Lanka’s rise in test cricket. He has over 430+ wickets in tests, 74 wickets in ODIs, and 18 wickets in T20Is. He has also scored a good amount of runs for Sri Lanka with over 1300 runs in the tests. After Muttiah’s retirement, he stood up and proved himself in every challenging situation.
9. Graeme Swann
Graeme Swann was one of the best off-spinner from England. He had a remarkable international career and left a significant impact on England’s balling revolution. He had an incredible ability to take wickets at the time of need. In his bowling career he had taken over 255 in tests, 104 wickets in ODIs, and over 50 wickets in T20Is. Along with the ball, he is also handy with the bat. Graeme has scored over 1300+ runs across the format while batting. His highest score of 85 runs came against South Africa.
10. Nathan Lyon
Australia’s one of the best spinners especially in test cricket, Nathan Lyon is one of the key players of the primary Australian team. His teammates call him by the nickname “Garry”. He is the most successful spin bowler for Australia in Tests. He has currently 496 wickets under his name in tests, in ODIs he has 29 wickets and in T20, he has just played a single match in which he bagged three wickets. He is also very handy with the bat with almost 1000 test runs under his cap that has helped Australia in valuable partnership at lower level.
