Everybody knows that South African cricketers Jonty Rhodes and AB de Villiers are multitalented sportsmen who would have done well in other sports had they not been picked to represent their national cricket team.
While Jonty Rhodes’ name came up twice to represent the national hockey team of South Africa in the Olympic Games of 1992 and 1996, AB de Villiers played hockey, golf, rugby, badminton, swimming and tennis before becoming a one-man army in cricket.
Sadly, in other parts of the world, sportsmen are restricted to one sport; what if they had another chance to reinvent themselves. Which sport would they choose over the one that made them rich and famous? Let’s find out!
Maybe an athlete …
According to his autobiography Dash Like Islah, former captain of Pakistan’s hockey team Islahuddin Siddiqui was once tested for being too fast on the field.
His ‘dash’ was considered superhuman because he ran as fast as the ball at times; the former Olympian also suggested that had he been not picked for the hockey team, he might have tried his luck as a sprinter and who knows, in the 1960s and the ’70s, he might have done well as a successor of the fastest man in Asia, Abdul Khaliq.
You know them as cricketers, footballers, tennis stars, but we have here other ideas for them
Then there was Shoaib Akhtar who recalls a funny incident in his autobiography where he challenged Bollywood star Salman Khan to a race; the bowler to deliver the fastest ball in world cricket could have been an excellent athlete.
Cricketer or footballer?
Pakistan has produced many talented cricketers a lot of whom had the mental capacity of doing well — in other sports as well.
Had Javed Miandad been a footballer, he would have been known as the Maradona of Pakistan or who knows, Maradona could have been compared with Javed who would surely have made his debut before the Argentinean great.
Javed would have known which player to dodge and which to push long before those opponents would have decided how to steer the football away from the maestro.
What a racket!
Another former captain Shoaib Malik would have been an ideal candidate for the game of tennis since many of his shots look tailor-made for tennis; he might be playing mixed doubles with his wife Sania Mirza, who is currently the one half of the best women’s doubles team in the world.
Touching base
The captain of Pakistan’s T20 cricket team Shahid Afridi’s style of batting suits baseball where there are three strikes instead of one bowled in cricket. Like all baseball greats, he could miss one or even two strikes but we all know where the third would land — miles away from the catcher’s gloves.
On course
His predecessor Misbah-ul-Haq would have loved to play golf because it suits his mood — relaxed, calm and composed. He could hit the golf ball anywhere and then devise a strategy to put it in the hole with his ingenuity that has made him the most successful Test captain in Pakistan.
Former cricketer Ejaz Ahmed with his unique posture and hard-hitting capabilities would also have been a good golfer too, but one with a bad start.
Even though Wasim Akram also plays golf post retirement, he should have been a man of action, if not a cricketer. With his exemplary athletic body, Wasim would have been a world class athlete and made Pakistan proud.
Golf would have also suited Inzamam ul Haq whose demand of a golf cart would have seemed justified as he would have wanted to conserve energy for fatal swings. And you can’t be run out in gold … phew!
Basket case
In the current Pakistan cricket team, there is a seven-foot-tall pacer named Mohammad Irfan. He might look a misfit to some but had he been in America, he would have been a basketball player without any doubt.
Former opening batsman and coach of the Pakistan Cricket team Mohsin Khan used to be good at badminton and won at the national level before cricket lured him away.
Wrestling it out
There used to be a left-arm spinner named Mohammad Hussain, whose physique indicated that he wanted to be a wrestler but he was asked to play cricket instead.
All rounder
Squash legend Jahangir Khan may not agree but as an athlete who won 555 consecutive matches without losing he would have done well in any kind of sports.
He could have been good at cricket, tennis, swimming, sprinting et al yet, he tried to stay close to squash and make Pakistan known to the world with his countless achievements.
Same was the case with Aisam ul Haq who had prepared a show reel (like models do) and would have become a successful model had his tennis career not skyrocketed in the latter half of the last decade.
He would also have done well had he opted for cricket because in Pakistan handsome cricketers are worshipped more than talented ones.
Checkmate
Speaking of which, Imran Khan is the man who changed cricket forever. Not only did he have good looks, he had the acumen to beat even the best in the world. He would have been ideal for chess, something he is enjoying post retirement since chess and politics aren’t that different.
Another great Shahbaz Ahmed would have done well as a chess master; the legendary hockey player always used to have something up his sleeve no matter what he was doing. He could waste time on the field by continuously dodging the opponents or deceive the goalkeeper with his unusual penalty stroke ability; just imagine how well he would have played chess had he conserved his physical energy and used his brains to checkmate others.
His teammate Qamar Ibrahim resembled a bouncer and had he not been good at hockey, he might have found fame in wrestling.
Different strokes
Former Pakistan captain and hero of the hockey World Cup in 1994, Mansoor Ahmed was short in height and could have been more suited to other sports such as cricket, as a wicket-keeper, who was constantly on the move behind the stumps; or as a catcher in baseball.
The fastest man on the planet Usain Bolt has repeatedly said that had he not been a sprinter, he would have been a cricketer and that, too, in the mould of Waqar Younis. I believe that the Jamaican would have done well in basketball alongside his contemporaries Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin and others.
Similarly, Michael Jordan would have done well in field sprint although he did try his hand at baseball and failed.
Roger Federer played badminton and basketball when young but cricket is in his blood. His mother is a South African whose descendants came from Europe — mostly England and France. He has been a fan of the game, as well and openly supports South Africa, so who knows, he might have represented South Africa in cricket had Jonty or de Villiers vacated a spot for him.
His rival on the court Rafael Nadal’s family is closer to football though and Nadal was made to choose between football and tennis when young. He might have had a future in the game as well since the attitude with which he plays tennis would have benefited him in football. Nadal’s uncle Miguel Nadal represented the Spanish team in the 1990s as a midfielder and defender.
He was the member of three World Cup squads and was nicknamed ‘The Beast’ for his athletic prowess on the field. His older brother Toni has been Rafael Nadal’s coach ever since he turned pro and is regarded as one of the most successful tennis coaches of all time with 14 Grand Slam titles.
And then there was Andre Agassi whose father was a star in his own right as he represented Iran in consecutive Olympic Games as a boxer. Although he lost in the first round on both occasions, Emanuel Agassi migrated to America in the 1950s and changed his name to Mike Agassi.
He then coached his son Andre in his initial days as a tennis player and like any fairytale ending, the son won the Olympic gold in 1992 to make his father proud. Just imagine Andre Agassi as a successful pugilist; tennis’ loss would have been the boxing world’s gain.
Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, March 13th, 2016