In the modern-day, the specialist batsmen aren’t used to contributing with the ball more often as the trend in the past. Managing the workload has caused many of the top batsmen in the current generation opting away from rolling their arms as most of the teams are following the strategy of five bowlers.

Things were different until a decade back where the teams used to trust part-timers to provide the breakthroughs. Few players were considered to be golden arms for fulfilling such roles while some other players ended up as far as breaking some bowling records.

Here we look at five bowling records in professional cricket which are held by specialist batsmen:

5. Best average and strike rate in Test cricket

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410935" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Wilf-Barber-PICTURES.jpg" alt="Wilf Barber" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410935" class="wp-caption-text">Wilf Barber. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption>

In the 143-year history of Test cricket, only one player has managed to take a wicket despite bowling less than an over through his career. <strong>England</strong> batsman Wilf Barber is that player who took a wicket with the 2nd ball he bowled in his Test career. He bowled in South Africa’s 2nd innings during the 1935 Leeds Test which marked his debut.

The home team completed a win by virtue of Barber’s wicket during that innings. Barber played only one more Test – also against South Africa in Manchester a week later. Wilf Barber scored 83 runs across 4 innings in Test cricket an average of 20.75. However, in first-class cricket, Barber amassed more than 16000 runs.

His bowling strike rate of 2.0 is the best for a player in Test cricket. Wilf Barber has a bowling average 0.0 as he did not concede a run and is the joint-best for any player in this format. England batsman Albert Hornby and New Zealand batter Bruce Murray also picked a wicket in their Test careers without conceding a run but bowled 28 and 6 balls respectively.

4. Six wickets on debut in Twenty20 format

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410306" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Michael-Dighton.jpg" alt="Michael Dighton" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410306" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Dighton. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

The Twenty20 format has witnessed a variety of records in a short span of 17 years. Some of those records were held by unusual names and few of them by players of opposite role i.e. specialist batsmen in bowling records. One such record is on the name of Michael Dighton, a former <strong>Australian</strong> cricketer. Dighton made his T20 debut in the 2006-07 edition of the KFC Australian T20.

He made his professional debut in 1997/98 itself but lacked big knocks. He did score 111 for his team Tasmania during the domestic T20 tournament which stood as the highest T20 individual score in Australia for five years. In his debut T20 game itself, Dighton picked up a 6-wicket haul as he recorded bowling figures of 6/25 in only three overs he bowled. He played against Queensland on his T20 debut which took place on New Year Day.

To top Dighton’s feat, Tasmania introduced him as the 7th bowler of the innings. He picked up three of the six wickets in his first over itself which was the 16th over of the innings and a couple more in the 20th over. Michael Dighton, till date, is the only player to claim a 6-wicket haul on Twenty20 debut. As many as 15 players after Dighton and four bowlers before him managed to take five wickets on T20 debut but none managed to take the record-breaking 6th wicket.

3. Best average and strike rate in ODI cricket

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410936" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Mohammad-Yousuf.jpg" alt="Mohammad Yousuf" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410936" class="wp-caption-text">Mohammad Yousuf. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Mohammad Yousuf has created various records with the bat for Pakistan but one of them which is not often spoken is his record with the ball. Yousuf picked up a wicket with the only ball he bowled in the ODI World Cup. He got the wicket of Zimbabwe’s Chris Mpofu in 2007 which brought an end to their disastrous campaign. Mpofu’s lofted shot was caught by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/he-will-easily-fit-in-any-all-time-odi-xi-inzamam-ul-haq-names-the-best-pakistan-batsman-till-date/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Inzamam-ul-Haq</strong></a> while fielding at the covers.

It was Mohammad Yousuf’s last of 13 appearances in the ODI World Cups. This meant the off-spinner held the record for best average (0) and best strike rate (1) in the history of ODI World Cup. It was only the 2nd ball Yousuf bowled in all his ODI career. The other instance of him bowling in ODI format was during the 2004 Champions Trophy semi-final against West Indies when the Caribbean team were a run away from a win.

Yousuf was given the ball in the 29th over to complete the formalities and Ramnaresh Sarwan picked up a single on the very first ball. He ended his ODI career with a bowling average of 1.0 which is the best for any player. Yousuf’s bowling strike rate reads 2.0 which is the joint best for any player. Former England player Derek Randall also took a wicket in the two balls he bowled in ODI cricket. Randall is also a specialist batsman and has bowled as few as 18 balls in his 96-match International career.

2. Consecutive 5-wicket hauls in Twenty20 cricket

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410937" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Faf-du-Plessis-bowling.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis bowling" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410937" class="wp-caption-text">Faf du Plessis bowling. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)</figcaption>

<a href="https://www.crictracker.com/former-south-africa-captain-faf-du-plessis-gets-new-year-long-contract-from-csa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Faf du Plessis</strong></a> is known for his batting and athletic fielding efforts but he has unique record as a bowler which is not known to many. Du Plessis is a handy leg-spinner but hasn’t been bowling in recent times at the International stage. Faf last bowled for South Africa after the completion of 2015 World Cup. In fact, Du Plessis has bowled only 3.2 overs as a captain; and all of them during 2012-13 season only. FaF du Plessis used to be a regular bowler in his career’s first half which helped him bag two 5-fers; both in the T20s.

First of Faf’s two 5-wicket hauls came during October 2011 in a CSA Provisional T20 match. Du Plessis was tough to handle for the Easterns team who were chasing 159 to win. Faf registered figures of 5/19 in his four overs as Easterns finished with 145/8 and fell 13 runs short of Northerns total of 158/6. Later during a MiWAY T20 Challenge match in March 2012, Faf du Plessis came to the rescue of his team Titans. He came to bowl as the 7th bowler when the Lions were cruising at 97/2 after 12 overs.

Du Plessis recorded bowling figures of 5/28 in the four overs he bowled as the Lions were limited to 163/7 but the Titans ended up losing the game by 16 runs. Both the 5-wicket hauls of Du Plessis came in successive innings as the only T20 game he played between the 5-fers ended without a result after 10.3 overs of the Titans’ batting. Thus, Faf du Plessis became the first player in Twenty20 history with successive 5-fers. Ireland’s Craig Young replicated this feat in 2017 with 5-fers in back to back T20s.

1. Defending 6 or fewer runs more than once in ODI cricket

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410938" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sachin-Tendulkar-bowling.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar bowling" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410938" class="wp-caption-text">Sachin Tendulkar bowling. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity in International cricket helped him to carry major batting records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. Sachin had the skill of bowling medium-pace, off-spin, leg-spin and googly; all in the same match if not in the same over itself. Tendulkar’s excellence under pressure with the ball was proved during the famous 1992 Tied ODI at the WACA against West Indies. He was given the ball to defend six runs with ten overs to go as all the four specialist bowlers finished their 10 overs quota.

Tendulkar gave away five runs but picked a wicket on the last ball of the over which was the 10th wicket of West Indies innings. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/fir-filed-against-mohammad-azharuddin-for-cheating-a-travel-agent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Mohammad Azharuddin</strong></a>, the then Indian captain, once against trusted Tendulkar during the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa. Chasing 196 to win, South Africa were 190/8 ahead of the final over which was to be bowled by Sachin. Azharuddin&#8217;s trust to bowl the Mumbaikar ahead of the specialist bowlers paid off. Tendulkar gave away only three runs and India won by 2 runs.

Three years later, a similar situation was witnessed as Australia were 284/9 chasing 290 in the Titan Cup match at the end of 49th over. Sachin Tendulkar, the captain of the game, took the responsibility of bowling the last over. Brad Hogg was run out on the very first ball of the match as India won the game by five runs. Thus, Sachin became the first player to defend six or fewer runs in the last over of an ODI on two different instances. No player till date managed to break or equal Tendulkar’s achievement.

<p>In the modern-day, the specialist batsmen aren’t used to contributing with the ball more often as the trend in the past. Managing the workload has caused many of the top batsmen in the current generation opting away from rolling their arms as most of the teams are following the strategy of five bowlers.</p>
<p>Things were different until a decade back where the teams used to trust part-timers to provide the breakthroughs. Few players were considered to be golden arms for fulfilling such roles while some other players ended up as far as breaking some bowling records.</p>
<h3>Here we look at five bowling records in professional cricket which are held by specialist batsmen:</h3>
<h3>5. Best average and strike rate in Test cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410935" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410935" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-410935" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Wilf-Barber-PICTURES.jpg" alt="Wilf Barber" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410935" class="wp-caption-text">Wilf Barber. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>In the 143-year history of Test cricket, only one player has managed to take a wicket despite bowling less than an over through his career. <strong>England</strong> batsman Wilf Barber is that player who took a wicket with the 2nd ball he bowled in his Test career. He bowled in South Africa’s 2nd innings during the 1935 Leeds Test which marked his debut.</p>
<p>The home team completed a win by virtue of Barber’s wicket during that innings. Barber played only one more Test – also against South Africa in Manchester a week later. Wilf Barber scored 83 runs across 4 innings in Test cricket an average of 20.75. However, in first-class cricket, Barber amassed more than 16000 runs.</p>
<p>His bowling strike rate of 2.0 is the best for a player in Test cricket. Wilf Barber has a bowling average 0.0 as he did not concede a run and is the joint-best for any player in this format. England batsman Albert Hornby and New Zealand batter Bruce Murray also picked a wicket in their Test careers without conceding a run but bowled 28 and 6 balls respectively.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>4. Six wickets on debut in Twenty20 format</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410306" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410306" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-410306" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Michael-Dighton.jpg" alt="Michael Dighton" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410306" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Dighton. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Twenty20 format has witnessed a variety of records in a short span of 17 years. Some of those records were held by unusual names and few of them by players of opposite role i.e. specialist batsmen in bowling records. One such record is on the name of Michael Dighton, a former <strong>Australian</strong> cricketer. Dighton made his T20 debut in the 2006-07 edition of the KFC Australian T20.</p>
<p>He made his professional debut in 1997/98 itself but lacked big knocks. He did score 111 for his team Tasmania during the domestic T20 tournament which stood as the highest T20 individual score in Australia for five years. In his debut T20 game itself, Dighton picked up a 6-wicket haul as he recorded bowling figures of 6/25 in only three overs he bowled. He played against Queensland on his T20 debut which took place on New Year Day.</p>
<p>To top Dighton’s feat, Tasmania introduced him as the 7th bowler of the innings. He picked up three of the six wickets in his first over itself which was the 16th over of the innings and a couple more in the 20th over. Michael Dighton, till date, is the only player to claim a 6-wicket haul on Twenty20 debut. As many as 15 players after Dighton and four bowlers before him managed to take five wickets on T20 debut but none managed to take the record-breaking 6th wicket.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>3. Best average and strike rate in ODI cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410936" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410936" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-410936" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Mohammad-Yousuf.jpg" alt="Mohammad Yousuf" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410936" class="wp-caption-text">Mohammad Yousuf. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Mohammad Yousuf has created various records with the bat for Pakistan but one of them which is not often spoken is his record with the ball. Yousuf picked up a wicket with the only ball he bowled in the ODI World Cup. He got the wicket of Zimbabwe’s Chris Mpofu in 2007 which brought an end to their disastrous campaign. Mpofu’s lofted shot was caught by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/he-will-easily-fit-in-any-all-time-odi-xi-inzamam-ul-haq-names-the-best-pakistan-batsman-till-date/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Inzamam-ul-Haq</strong></a> while fielding at the covers.</p>
<p>It was Mohammad Yousuf’s last of 13 appearances in the ODI World Cups. This meant the off-spinner held the record for best average (0) and best strike rate (1) in the history of ODI World Cup. It was only the 2nd ball Yousuf bowled in all his ODI career. The other instance of him bowling in ODI format was during the 2004 Champions Trophy semi-final against West Indies when the Caribbean team were a run away from a win.</p>
<p>Yousuf was given the ball in the 29th over to complete the formalities and Ramnaresh Sarwan picked up a single on the very first ball. He ended his ODI career with a bowling average of 1.0 which is the best for any player. Yousuf’s bowling strike rate reads 2.0 which is the joint best for any player. Former England player Derek Randall also took a wicket in the two balls he bowled in ODI cricket. Randall is also a specialist batsman and has bowled as few as 18 balls in his 96-match International career.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>2. Consecutive 5-wicket hauls in Twenty20 cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410937" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410937" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-410937" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Faf-du-Plessis-bowling.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis bowling" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410937" class="wp-caption-text">Faf du Plessis bowling. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="https://www.crictracker.com/former-south-africa-captain-faf-du-plessis-gets-new-year-long-contract-from-csa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Faf du Plessis</strong></a> is known for his batting and athletic fielding efforts but he has unique record as a bowler which is not known to many. Du Plessis is a handy leg-spinner but hasn’t been bowling in recent times at the International stage. Faf last bowled for South Africa after the completion of 2015 World Cup. In fact, Du Plessis has bowled only 3.2 overs as a captain; and all of them during 2012-13 season only. FaF du Plessis used to be a regular bowler in his career’s first half which helped him bag two 5-fers; both in the T20s.</p>
<p>First of Faf’s two 5-wicket hauls came during October 2011 in a CSA Provisional T20 match. Du Plessis was tough to handle for the Easterns team who were chasing 159 to win. Faf registered figures of 5/19 in his four overs as Easterns finished with 145/8 and fell 13 runs short of Northerns total of 158/6. Later during a MiWAY T20 Challenge match in March 2012, Faf du Plessis came to the rescue of his team Titans. He came to bowl as the 7th bowler when the Lions were cruising at 97/2 after 12 overs.</p>
<p>Du Plessis recorded bowling figures of 5/28 in the four overs he bowled as the Lions were limited to 163/7 but the Titans ended up losing the game by 16 runs. Both the 5-wicket hauls of Du Plessis came in successive innings as the only T20 game he played between the 5-fers ended without a result after 10.3 overs of the Titans’ batting. Thus, Faf du Plessis became the first player in Twenty20 history with successive 5-fers. Ireland’s Craig Young replicated this feat in 2017 with 5-fers in back to back T20s.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>1. Defending 6 or fewer runs more than once in ODI cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410938" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410938" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-410938" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sachin-Tendulkar-bowling.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar bowling" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410938" class="wp-caption-text">Sachin Tendulkar bowling. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity in International cricket helped him to carry major batting records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. Sachin had the skill of bowling medium-pace, off-spin, leg-spin and googly; all in the same match if not in the same over itself. Tendulkar’s excellence under pressure with the ball was proved during the famous 1992 Tied ODI at the WACA against West Indies. He was given the ball to defend six runs with ten overs to go as all the four specialist bowlers finished their 10 overs quota.</p>
<p>Tendulkar gave away five runs but picked a wicket on the last ball of the over which was the 10th wicket of West Indies innings. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/fir-filed-against-mohammad-azharuddin-for-cheating-a-travel-agent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Mohammad Azharuddin</strong></a>, the then Indian captain, once against trusted Tendulkar during the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa. Chasing 196 to win, South Africa were 190/8 ahead of the final over which was to be bowled by Sachin. Azharuddin’s trust to bowl the Mumbaikar ahead of the specialist bowlers paid off. Tendulkar gave away only three runs and India won by 2 runs.</p>
<p>Three years later, a similar situation was witnessed as Australia were 284/9 chasing 290 in the Titan Cup match at the end of 49th over. Sachin Tendulkar, the captain of the game, took the responsibility of bowling the last over. Brad Hogg was run out on the very first ball of the match as India won the game by five runs. Thus, Sachin became the first player to defend six or fewer runs in the last over of an ODI on two different instances. No player till date managed to break or equal Tendulkar’s achievement.</p>

<p>In the modern-day, the specialist batsmen aren’t used to contributing with the ball more often as the trend in the past. Managing the workload has caused many of the top batsmen in the current generation opting away from rolling their arms as most of the teams are following the strategy of five bowlers.</p>
<p>Things were different until a decade back where the teams used to trust part-timers to provide the breakthroughs. Few players were considered to be golden arms for fulfilling such roles while some other players ended up as far as breaking some bowling records.</p>
<h3>Here we look at five bowling records in professional cricket which are held by specialist batsmen:</h3>
<h3>5. Best average and strike rate in Test cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410935" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410935" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410935" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Wilf-Barber-PICTURES.jpg" alt="Wilf Barber" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410935" class="wp-caption-text">Wilf Barber. (Photo Source: Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>In the 143-year history of Test cricket, only one player has managed to take a wicket despite bowling less than an over through his career. <strong>England</strong> batsman Wilf Barber is that player who took a wicket with the 2nd ball he bowled in his Test career. He bowled in South Africa’s 2nd innings during the 1935 Leeds Test which marked his debut.</p>
<p>The home team completed a win by virtue of Barber’s wicket during that innings. Barber played only one more Test – also against South Africa in Manchester a week later. Wilf Barber scored 83 runs across 4 innings in Test cricket an average of 20.75. However, in first-class cricket, Barber amassed more than 16000 runs.</p>
<p>His bowling strike rate of 2.0 is the best for a player in Test cricket. Wilf Barber has a bowling average 0.0 as he did not concede a run and is the joint-best for any player in this format. England batsman Albert Hornby and New Zealand batter Bruce Murray also picked a wicket in their Test careers without conceding a run but bowled 28 and 6 balls respectively.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>4. Six wickets on debut in Twenty20 format</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410306" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410306" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410306" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Michael-Dighton.jpg" alt="Michael Dighton" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410306" class="wp-caption-text">Michael Dighton. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Twenty20 format has witnessed a variety of records in a short span of 17 years. Some of those records were held by unusual names and few of them by players of opposite role i.e. specialist batsmen in bowling records. One such record is on the name of Michael Dighton, a former <strong>Australian</strong> cricketer. Dighton made his T20 debut in the 2006-07 edition of the KFC Australian T20.</p>
<p>He made his professional debut in 1997/98 itself but lacked big knocks. He did score 111 for his team Tasmania during the domestic T20 tournament which stood as the highest T20 individual score in Australia for five years. In his debut T20 game itself, Dighton picked up a 6-wicket haul as he recorded bowling figures of 6/25 in only three overs he bowled. He played against Queensland on his T20 debut which took place on New Year Day.</p>
<p>To top Dighton’s feat, Tasmania introduced him as the 7th bowler of the innings. He picked up three of the six wickets in his first over itself which was the 16th over of the innings and a couple more in the 20th over. Michael Dighton, till date, is the only player to claim a 6-wicket haul on Twenty20 debut. As many as 15 players after Dighton and four bowlers before him managed to take five wickets on T20 debut but none managed to take the record-breaking 6th wicket.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>3. Best average and strike rate in ODI cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410936" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410936" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410936" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Mohammad-Yousuf.jpg" alt="Mohammad Yousuf" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410936" class="wp-caption-text">Mohammad Yousuf. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Mohammad Yousuf has created various records with the bat for Pakistan but one of them which is not often spoken is his record with the ball. Yousuf picked up a wicket with the only ball he bowled in the ODI World Cup. He got the wicket of Zimbabwe’s Chris Mpofu in 2007 which brought an end to their disastrous campaign. Mpofu’s lofted shot was caught by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/he-will-easily-fit-in-any-all-time-odi-xi-inzamam-ul-haq-names-the-best-pakistan-batsman-till-date/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Inzamam-ul-Haq</strong></a> while fielding at the covers.</p>
<p>It was Mohammad Yousuf’s last of 13 appearances in the ODI World Cups. This meant the off-spinner held the record for best average (0) and best strike rate (1) in the history of ODI World Cup. It was only the 2nd ball Yousuf bowled in all his ODI career. The other instance of him bowling in ODI format was during the 2004 Champions Trophy semi-final against West Indies when the Caribbean team were a run away from a win.</p>
<p>Yousuf was given the ball in the 29th over to complete the formalities and Ramnaresh Sarwan picked up a single on the very first ball. He ended his ODI career with a bowling average of 1.0 which is the best for any player. Yousuf’s bowling strike rate reads 2.0 which is the joint best for any player. Former England player Derek Randall also took a wicket in the two balls he bowled in ODI cricket. Randall is also a specialist batsman and has bowled as few as 18 balls in his 96-match International career.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>2. Consecutive 5-wicket hauls in Twenty20 cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410937" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410937" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410937" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Faf-du-Plessis-bowling.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis bowling" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410937" class="wp-caption-text">Faf du Plessis bowling. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p><a href="https://www.crictracker.com/former-south-africa-captain-faf-du-plessis-gets-new-year-long-contract-from-csa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Faf du Plessis</strong></a> is known for his batting and athletic fielding efforts but he has unique record as a bowler which is not known to many. Du Plessis is a handy leg-spinner but hasn’t been bowling in recent times at the International stage. Faf last bowled for South Africa after the completion of 2015 World Cup. In fact, Du Plessis has bowled only 3.2 overs as a captain; and all of them during 2012-13 season only. FaF du Plessis used to be a regular bowler in his career’s first half which helped him bag two 5-fers; both in the T20s.</p>
<p>First of Faf’s two 5-wicket hauls came during October 2011 in a CSA Provisional T20 match. Du Plessis was tough to handle for the Easterns team who were chasing 159 to win. Faf registered figures of 5/19 in his four overs as Easterns finished with 145/8 and fell 13 runs short of Northerns total of 158/6. Later during a MiWAY T20 Challenge match in March 2012, Faf du Plessis came to the rescue of his team Titans. He came to bowl as the 7th bowler when the Lions were cruising at 97/2 after 12 overs.</p>
<p>Du Plessis recorded bowling figures of 5/28 in the four overs he bowled as the Lions were limited to 163/7 but the Titans ended up losing the game by 16 runs. Both the 5-wicket hauls of Du Plessis came in successive innings as the only T20 game he played between the 5-fers ended without a result after 10.3 overs of the Titans’ batting. Thus, Faf du Plessis became the first player in Twenty20 history with successive 5-fers. Ireland’s Craig Young replicated this feat in 2017 with 5-fers in back to back T20s.</p>
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<h3>1. Defending 6 or fewer runs more than once in ODI cricket</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410938" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410938" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410938" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Sachin-Tendulkar-bowling.jpg" alt="Sachin Tendulkar bowling" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410938" class="wp-caption-text">Sachin Tendulkar bowling. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Sachin Tendulkar’s longevity in International cricket helped him to carry major batting records in both Test cricket and ODI cricket. Sachin had the skill of bowling medium-pace, off-spin, leg-spin and googly; all in the same match if not in the same over itself. Tendulkar’s excellence under pressure with the ball was proved during the famous 1992 Tied ODI at the WACA against West Indies. He was given the ball to defend six runs with ten overs to go as all the four specialist bowlers finished their 10 overs quota.</p>
<p>Tendulkar gave away five runs but picked a wicket on the last ball of the over which was the 10th wicket of West Indies innings. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/fir-filed-against-mohammad-azharuddin-for-cheating-a-travel-agent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Mohammad Azharuddin</strong></a>, the then Indian captain, once against trusted Tendulkar during the 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa. Chasing 196 to win, South Africa were 190/8 ahead of the final over which was to be bowled by Sachin. Azharuddin&#8217;s trust to bowl the Mumbaikar ahead of the specialist bowlers paid off. Tendulkar gave away only three runs and India won by 2 runs.</p>
<p>Three years later, a similar situation was witnessed as Australia were 284/9 chasing 290 in the Titan Cup match at the end of 49th over. Sachin Tendulkar, the captain of the game, took the responsibility of bowling the last over. Brad Hogg was run out on the very first ball of the match as India won the game by five runs. Thus, Sachin became the first player to defend six or fewer runs in the last over of an ODI on two different instances. No player till date managed to break or equal Tendulkar’s achievement.</p>

Here we look at five bowling records in professional cricket which are held by specialist batsmen.

5 Bowling records held by batsmen in professional cricket

In the modern-day, the specialist batsmen aren’t used to contributing with the ball more often as the trend in the past. Managing the workload has caused