5 players who started their career as batsmen but became bowlers

Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the most prominent faces of Indian cricket at this time. However, Tamil Nadu off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin started as the first batsman. In fact, he has played batting quite a few times in professional cricket. Ashwin is one of the most successful bowlers in Indian cricket in this decade. He was India's premier spinner in all formats for a long time before dropping out of shorter formats.

Ravindra Jadeja

He did not really get a chance to bat in the top six in any format. Thus he was short to be a bowler who can bat. At the moment, he usually bats at number 8 for the Indian team in both Tests and ODIs. His precise left-arm spin has been highly rated and Jadeja has become an important member in all formats of the game.

Ajit Agarkar

Ajit Agarkar achieved something that did not come out of Sachin Tendulkar's bat either. The former Indian fast bowler has entered the Honors Board at Lord's after scoring a century in 2002. Agarkar was first identified as a batsman in age-group cricket. He made his ODI and Test debut in 1998 and was a prominent member of the Indian team in the early 2000s.

Shardul Thakur

Shardul Thakur has been in and around the Indian team for a few years now. In fact, he also played a handful of games and also performed consistently well for Bharat He A. Over the years, he has also performed well in IPL and domestic cricket.

However, it is a little known fact that Thakur wanted to become a batsman. In fact, he started his career as a batsman. In school cricket, the Mumbai-born has also hit six sixes in an over. However, as he grew, he gradually transformed into a proper bowler.

James franklin

Franklin played 179 international games for New Zealand. Test cricket was the most productive format for the left-handed pacer with the ball. In fact, he is one of only two New Zealand players to have taken a Test hat-trick. He started his career as a batsman. However, Franklin slowly turned to the ball and by the time he made his international debut, he became a lower-order batsman.