From Rahul Dravid To Shahid Afridi: Eight Star Cricketers Who Played For More Than One Country

The article takes a look at eight cricketers who played for countries other than their places of birth.

Hyderabad:There are multiple stories of cricketers who have played for more than one country. The sport is full of such stories where a cricketer plays for a different country than his place of birth as he realises that he won't get much chance to play for his national side. However, there have been instances when some of the star players around the globe have featured for other countries to earn money as well as to promote this port in other countries.

The list includes former India captain and head coach Rahul Dravid, Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi, South Africa’s legendary all-rounder Hansie Cronje and former Australia skipper Steve Waugh. Also, the list includes pacer Malcolm Marsh.

Rahul Dravid

The first name in the list is Rahul Dravid, who played for Scotland in 12 matches after the 2003 World Cup. Dravid performed very well in those matches and clocked two fifty-plus scores. He amassed 600 runs with an average of 66.66. However, his team lost 11 matches out of 12 fixtures. Rahul Dravid represented India across the formats from 1996 to 2012 playing more than 500 international matches and above 20,000 runs.

Shahid Afridi

Star Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has also played for Ireland. He was part of the domestic competition in the country. The all-rounder featured in the 2006 edition of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy (CNG) Trophy. He amassed 128 runs from six List A matches in the tournament and picked seven wickets.

The all-rounder scored 1716 Test runs, 8064 ODI runs and 1,416 runs throughout the career.

Hansie Cronje

The South African all-rounder played for Ireland in the 1997 edition of the Benson & Hedges Cup which was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales. The tournament was played from 1972 to 2002. Hansie was found guilty of match-fixing in 2000. He died in a plane crash two years later at the age of 32.

Saqlain Mushtaq

Pakistan off-spinner played for Ireland in the CNG Trophy in the 2006 edition. He played 49 Tests and 169 ODIs for the national team and picked 208 and 288 wickets respectively. He also has two hat-tricks in the 50-over cricket.

File Photo: Saqlain Mushtaq (AP)

Steve Waugh

Former Australia skipper Steve Waugh played for Ireland in 1988 against Australia and also coached them. Australia won the match by 150 runs and Steve Waugh amassed 31 and 45 runs respectively in the fixture.

Waugh featured for Australia from 1985 to 2004 and is considered to be one of the greatest cricketers in the globe. He amassed 10,927 runs from 168 Tests. He is the Australian cricketer to play most Test matches. He scored 7,569 runs from 325 ODIs. He was the key member of the World-Cup winning Australian team in 1987 and also led the Australian side to the ODI World Cup in 1999.

File Photo: Steve Waugh (IANS)

Malcolm Marshall

Legendary Caribbean pacer Malcolm Marshall played for Scotland in the 1995 edition of the Benson and Hedges Trophy. Marshall debuted in Test cricket at the age of 20 years in Bangalore against India. He has picked 376 Test wickets and 157 wickets.

Jesse Ryder

The left-handed batter played for Ireland in the 2007 edition of the Friends Provident Trophy. He played as an overseas player in the squad. Ryder debuted in 2008 and featured in 18 Tests, 48 ODIs and 22 T20Is. He bid farewell to international cricket in 2012.

Ravi Rampaul

West Indies pacer Ravi Rampaul played in the 2008 edition of the Friends Provident Trophy as an overseas player for Ireland. He picked 10 wickets in those fixtures with an average of 28.70. Rampaul helped the Ireland team beat Warwickshire in their first FPT fixture in two years.

The right-arm pacer featured in 18 Test matches taking 49 wickets. In the white-ball format, Rampaul appeared in 92 ODIs and 24 T20Is.

File Photo: Ravi Rampaul (IANS)