There is no part-time bowler left in the Indian team now but there was a time when the Indian team was full of part-time bowlers. The advantage to have a part-time bowler is that it provides an extra bowling option to the captain. There is a small difference between a part-time bowler and an all-rounder. An all-rounder will give you all the overs which are fixed for him but you can call a part-time bowler any time on the field even when one of your main bowlers is not in rhythm. In this article, we will see the top 5 part-time bowlers of India.
#5 Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina was a perfect part-time bowler as he could bowl off-spin when the main bowler was facing a bad day. Raina did not get much turn from the pitch but he was a bowler who can bowl 3 to 4 overs in between. Raina has 62 international wickets and his best bowling performance was against Bangladesh where he took 3 wickets and gave only 45 runs.
#4 Virender Sehwag
Sehwag was selected as an all-rounder in his Under-19 days but later in the Indian team, he was a perfect batsman as he got some bowling abilities Sehwag was a decent off-spinner who sometimes bowled his whole spells of bowling in middle overs. He even gave company to Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh many times. Sehwag has 136 international wickets and his best bowling figures came against Australia where he took 5 wickets and gave 104 runs in his 40 overs spell.
#3 Sourav Ganguly
The current BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was almost an all-rounder for India in his playing days. Ganguly is the only player on this list who was a medium pacer, part-time bowler. Ganguly also had cutters with the speed of 120 to 130 km per hour as a bowler. Ganguly has 100 international wickets in ODIs with two five-wicket hauls. Ganguly’s best bowling figure of his career came in 1997 against Pakistan where he took 5 wickets and gave only 16 runs in his 10 overs spell.
#2 Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj always wanted to be a fast bowler when he was young but as he grew up his interest shifted towards batting, he never gave up on his interest and he became a very good part-time bowler for India especially under Dhoni’s captaincy. Yuvraj took 148 international wickets in his career. He was a spinner and his best bowling performance came against Ireland in the 2011 World cup where he took 5 wickets and gave only 31 runs in his spell. It was also his only five-wicket haul. Yuvraj finished the tournament with 13 wickets in total.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin was one of the greatest part-time bowlers of all time. The god of cricket was also the god of part-timers. Sachin was more of a leg spinner but he could bowl a little bit of off-spin too. He got the ability to turn the bowl in both ways. With his bowling qualities, he saved India on many occasions. Sachin has more than 150 international wickets in ODIs with two five-wicket hauls. His best bowling figures came against Australia in 1998 where he cleared 5 batsmen of Aussies and gave only 32 runs in his spell.
