Hyderabad: Making a debut for his country holds great significance in a cricketer's life. While some of them fulfilled their dream once others completed their desire twice by playing for two countries on the international stage.
Nowadays with the advent of franchise cricket, some players tend to give more importance to league cricket over international duty. They appear for the country only when there is a major tournament and this has been the recent norm in world cricket.
Billy Midwinter was the first in world cricket who represented two different countries. Following is the list of Indian cricketers who played for multiple countries in their careers.
Nawab of Pataudi(Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi):Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the 8th Nawab of Pataudi, is the only cricketer to have played for both England and India in Test matches. Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the Nawab of Pataudi, made his debut in Test cricket for India in 1932-33, scoring a century against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He represented England in 1932-33 Bodyline series. He was the captain of Indian cricket team for the tour of England in 1946. Pataudi played in six Tests in total, three for England and three for India.
Billy Midwinter - Midwinter was a sound batter and a useful medium pacer during his playing days. The cricketer was born in Gloucestershire but played for Australia in eight Tests after emigrating. His career included four appearances for England which were in 1881-82. Midwinter was famously kidnapped by WG Grace in 1878, when he was due to play for Australia against Middlesex, but was instead taken to play for Gloucestershire against Surrey at The Oval.
Eoin Morgan - The aggressive lower-order batter started his career for the Irish team and then went on to play for England for 13 years becoming a mainstay in the national side. He played for three years for Ireland between 2006-2009 which included ODI World Cup 2007. Morgan then became a key player for England and also captained the team in the later years. Under his leadership, England won their maiden ODI World Cup title in 2019. The left-handed English batter played 16 Tests, 248 ODIs and 115 T20Is leaving a mark over the international globe. Morgan featured for Ireland in 23 matches while played for the English side in 356 fixtures.
File Photo: Eoin Morgan (Getty Images) Roelof van der Merwe - The all-rounder represented two countries, South Africa and the Netherlands. He played 27 ODIs and 57 T20Is taking 29 and 60 wickets respectively. He Van der Merwe is remembered by many for his outstanding catch against South Africa in the T20 World Cup 2022. He played for South Africa in 26 matches and the Netherlands in 58 matches.
File Photo: Roelof van der Merwe (Getty Images) Corey Anderson- After playing a key role as a lower-order batter for the Blackcaps, Corey has started playing for the USA recently. He also played for the USA in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. The 33-year-old has played 13 Tests, 49 ODIs and 42 Tests so far.
File Photo: Corey Anderson (Getty Images) Tim David- The world-class finisher started his career for Singapore but ended up playing for Australia eventually. David is assigned the role of the finisher by the teams across the world. The right-handed batter has played four ODIs and 51 T20Is so far and is known for his swashbuckling hits. The 28-year-old has played 14 matches for Singapore and 41 fixtures for Australia.
File Photo: Tim David (Getty Images) David Wiese - Wiese started his career in South Africa and then switched his allegiance to Namibia. He played for South Africa from 2013-16 and then started playing for Namibia in 2021. Wiese played a key role for Namibia as an all-rounder and also showcased his all-round skills in league cricket.
File Photo: David Wiese (Getty Images) Kapler Wessles - Kepler Wessels is the only player to amass over 1,000 runs and score centuries in Tests for two nations - Australia and South Africa. Wessels smashed a century in his first Test appearance for South Africa while racked up 162 runs on his debut for Australia against England in Brisbane in 1982-83. He had also captained Proteas in their first Test match after their return to international cricket in 1991-92. He also led the team in their first World Cup since the 1970s in 1992.
Gary Ballance: ary Ballance played for both England and Zimbabwe and is the second Test batter to score centuries for two countries, after Kepler Wessels. Ballance played for England from 2013 to 2017. He scored four centuries for England during this time while represented Zimbabwe in 2023 and made his Test debut in February 2023, scoring an unbeaten 137 against the West Indies in Bulawayo.
Dirk Nannes: Dirk Nannes played for both Australia and the Netherlands in international cricket. He was born to Dutch migrant parents and holds Dutch citizenship. He was not selected for Australia's 2009 T20 World Cup squad so he played for the Netherlands in 2009 and later went on to represent Australia in 2010. Nannes has also played ODI for Australia.
