You just cannot hold your laughter to see these tallest cricketers with the tiniest players the game has ever seen
Debasis Sen : In the recently concluded test match between New Zealand and Bangladesh at Bay Oval , a picture of New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson with Bangladesh batter Mushfiqur Rahim went viral. It had the social media in splits to see Mushfiqur trying to keep an eye-to-eye contact with Jamieson who was good 2 feet taller than him. Jamieson, who is 6’8” is one of the tallest cricketers involved in active international cricket at the moment while the former Bangladesh captain, who is just 5’2” is regarded as one of the short height cricketers in world cricket.
Well, there are a lot of funny instances when some of these tallest cricketers is framed alongside their teammates who are extremely tiny in stature. Take the instance where you can see former West Indian bowler Sir Curtly Ambrose with his teammate wicketkeeper David Williams. Or if you see this picture of Pakistan’s Md Irfan with Mohammad Rizwan. You will definitely struggle to hold your laughter.
Let’s have a look at the top 5 tallest cricketers of all time.
Mohammad Irfan: Pakistani left-arm medium-pacer, is the tallest bowler in history to play cricket with a height of 7ft 1in. Born in Punjab province in Pakistan, the tall medium-pacer made his ODI debut against England in 2010. He has played 60 ODIs taking 83 wickets and 4 Test matches, and 22 T20I, taking 10 and 16 wickets in the respective format of the game.
Joel Garner: The former West Indies fast bowler, also known as the “Big Bird”, with the height of 6ft 8in, is one of the tallest cricketers. He appeared in 58 Tests between 1977 and 1987 and took 259 wickets at an average of 20.98, making him statistically one of the most effective bowlers of all times. In limited-overs cricket, Garner put his height to use with devastating effect. In 98 matches, he took 146 wickets.
Bruce Reid: This former Australian left-arm fast bowler, is another tallest bowler the game has seen. With the height of 6ft 8in, he, along with Joel Garner, was among the tallest to play cricket before the appearance of Mohammad Irfan and Kyle Jamieson. Prone with injuries, a career that could have been one of the finest was cut short at 29. He took 113 wickets in 27 Test matches at an average of 24.6, and in the 61 ODIs he played, he took 63 wickets.
Kyle Jamieson: New Zealand pacer finds himself in the list with an impressive height of 6ft 8 inches. He rose to fame with his incredible debut series against India in 2020 and has never looked back since.
Kyle Jamieson: New Zealand pacer finds himself in the list with an impressive height of 6ft 8 inches. He rose to fame with his incredible debut series against India in 2020 and has never looked back since.
Well, if you were wondering who are the top five tiniest cricketers in the world, here they are:
Kruger van Wyk: With a height of only 4.75ft this South African born Kiwi cricketer is the shortest to have played the game. He scored 341 runs in 9 international contests.
Mushfiqur Rahim: The former Bangladesh captain is only 5.25 ft, making him one of the shortest cricketers in world cricket. Since making his debut in 2005, Mushfiqur has grown in stature as a cricketer for the national team.
Parthiv Patel: Former India wicketkeeper is also the same height as Mushfiqur. The southpaw played for India in 25 Test matches and 38 ODI matches scoring 934 and 736 runs respectively. He also played 2 T20I matches scoring only 36 runs.
Mominul Haque: Current Bangladesh test captain is only 5.28 ft, making him one of his country’s shortest cricketers. Mominul made an impressive entry into international cricket. He also scored 11 consecutive 50+ scores for Tigers in test matches which is a record.
Gundappa Viswanath: He was one of the most graceful batter to have donned the game for India. He has dominated the opponent batting like Sunil Gavaskar despite being only 5.3 ft. Vishwanath played 90 tests and scored over 6000 runs at an average of over 40.
