5 Instances when tailenders opened the batting in Test cricket

Here we look at five times when the tailenders were promoted to opening the batting in Test cricket.

In the modern-day, the International teams are not accustomed to using the idea of pinch hitters and even the usage of night-watchman has come down considerably. There were instances of teams promoting the likes of Irfan Pathan, Nicky Boje and Daniel Vettori up the order to utilize their batting prowess. However, there were occasions of teams letting the usual No.10 and No.11 position batters to open the innings to finish off the day or protect the specialist batters from tricky situations.

Here we look at five times when the tailenders were promoted to open the batting in Test cricket:

5. Iqbal Siddique

Maharashtra pacer Iqbal Siddique got to make his Test debut during the 2001 Mohali Test match against England. Little did he know that it would turn out to be his only appearance in an International match. Mohali had a great reputation of being an ideal track for the pacers but the India-England Test favoured spinners.

Siddique got to bowl only 19 overs across both innings and managed to pick up a wicket. His major contribution in the Test came with the bat as he scored a quick 24 after coming to bat at No.10 position. India extended their lead to 231 and later bowled out the visitors for only 235 runs.

Chasing a target of 5 runs, the first-innings centurion Deep Dasgupta opened the batting with Siddique instead of Shiv Sunder Das. Siddique, who faced the first ball of the innings from Matthew Hoggard, struck a boundary and followed it with a six to wrap up the match. Thus, Siddique’s last ball of his International career was a winning shot of a Test match.