Ever since Gautam Gambhir took over as India’s head coach, more and more Indian players have been bowling. It looks like the new coach wants the specialist batters to sharpen their bowling skills so that they can step up and bowl a few overs in case a main bowler gets injured or has an off day.
In the T20I series, Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav bowled for the first time in T20I format, while in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma have bowled a few overs. All the aforementioned names are specialist batters. Interestingly though, the following three Indian players played more than 100 ODI games, but they never bowled a single ball.
1. One of the popular Indian players – Shikhar Dhawan
Just a couple of years ago, Shikhar Dhawan was the captain of India in multiple ODI series. The left-handed batter has bowled in Tests as well as in IPL, but in his career of 167 ODIs, he did not bowl even once.
Dhawan made his ODI debut back in the year 2010. Just a year before the 2023 ODI World Cup, Dhawan lost his place in the team, and he is yet to make a comeback.
2. Mohammad Kaif
Known for his middle-order batting and fantastic fielding, Mohammad Kaif represented India in 125 ODI matches from 2002 to 2006. He was a part of the Indian squad that won the Natwest Series trophy in 2002. Although Kaif plaeyed more than 100 matches for the country, he never got a chance to bowl.
3. Nayan Mongia
The last name on this list is of Nayan Mongia. Hailing from Gujarat, Mongia played 140 ODIs for the Indian team from 1994 to 2000. The 54-year-old was a specialist wicketkeeper batter. While players like MS Dhoni and Rahul Dravid have bowled in ODIs despite being a wicketkeeper, Mongia never sent down any deliveries in the blue jersey in ODI cricket.
