Leading sportsmen across the globe who have gone on to represent their country in a chosen sporting discipline of their liking have often been seen to be fairly skilled at sports other than the one they choose as their staple profession to earn a livelihood.


There are examples a plenty of sportsmen being equally skilled at two or more games during their teenage days and then picking one in which they were a cut above the rest and eventually making the cut in the national teams.

International cricket too has some notable examples of highly successful cricketers who have not only achieved stellar success and brought laurels for their nation in their chosen sport but have had the honour to represent their motherland or a highly reputable club in 2 or more sports during their professional career.

Here is a look at famous international cricketers who represented their nation in other sports

JONTY RHODES

 Jonty Rhodes (Image: AFP / Getty)

Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes represented his country in hockey as well. Hailed as arguably the greatest fielder to have graced the sport, the supremely athletic Rhodes got selected in South Africa's hockey squad for the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona in Spain.

Rhodes also made the cut to represent South Africa in the field hockey disciple at the 1996 Summer Olympics at Atlanta but he needed to pull out due to a hamstring injury.

Rhodes who etched his name as one of the most fittest and athletic cricketers courtesy his superlative fielding and catching abilities represented South African in 52 Tests and 245 ODIs. Besides being a phenomenal fielder, Rhodes was pretty handy with the bat too, scoring runs at a fair click in both ODIs and Test cricket.

YUZVENDRA CHAHAL



India's frontline leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is an equally adept Chess player, having represented the nation at the sport at the junior level.

While most know Chahal as India's potent spin bowling strike weapon in the limited overs format, a select few are only aware of the fact that the ace leggie is a master strategist with his moves on the 64 black and white square boxes.

Chahal represented India at the World Youth Chess Championships. His name is listed as a participant from India in World Chess Federation's official site.

With 'Yuzi' not being able to really make strides in the indoor sport, he switched over to cricket and the highly successful seasons with RCB in 2015 and 2015 editions of the 2015 and 2016 editions of the tournament made him a permanent member of India's limited overs squads.

Cotah Ramaswami

Cotah Ramaswami has a etched name for himself in the record books and cricket almanacks as the second oldest debutant for India in Test cricket.  However, many are not cognizant of the fact that before he represented India in cricket, he played for the nation in the prestigious David Cup tennis tournament as well.

At the ripe old age of 40, Ramaswami played his maiden Test for India when the sub continent team locked horns with England in a Test match in 1936. In a highly impactful but short lived career, Cotah also known as Cotar racked up 170 runs in 4 innings across 2 Tests at a healthy average of 56.66. He also registered a half-century in the purist form of the game.

Cotor played for India in the Davis Cup along with Dr. A. H. Fyzee and A. A. Fayzee. India defeated Romania in the first round at Bristol but lost to Spain in Beckenham.

SIR IAN BOTHAM



Widely regarded as one of the finest all-rounders of all time, Ian Botham was a versatile sportsmen who was pretty skilled at playing football, besides his stellar exploits for England at the international level.

Botham, who was the poster boy of English cricket courtesy his all-round heroics with both the willow and red cherry, represented England with distinction in 102 Tests and 116 ODIs.

The hard hitting seam all-rounder who locked horns with Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and Sir Richard Hadlee for winning the bragging rights for the Number 1 all-rounder in the world was a game changer with his hard hitting knocks down the order and his ability to swing the ball in English conditions

The 'Guy of Gorilla'  had the pedigree and skill to play football at a fairly competitive level as he played as a centre-half for Yeovil Town and Scunthorpe United from 1978 to 1985 making 11 league appearances for the former football club.

Notable Mention

MIKE GATTING

Former England Test cricketer Mike Gatting who along with Graham Gooch, Robin Smith and Allan Lamb was the batting mainstay for his team in the mid 80s and early 90s was an equally skilled footballer.

Gatting who captained England in the mid 80s in 23 Tests and was the sheet anchor in the middle order notching up 4409 runs laced with 10 tons and 21 fifties was a keen exponent of soccer too.

Just like long time English team mate Ian Botham, Gatting followed club level football in the British Isles with keen interest and also was a pretty decent player, making it to the reserves in Watford Football Club for many years.

One of the relatively unknown facets of Gatting's exploits outside the cricketing turf is that he even auditioned to be a goalkeeper for the Watford main team and for the legendary Arsenal as well. Unfortunately, he could not make the cut due to relatively short height.