2023 world cup started with a bang. The Blackcaps avenged their 2019 world cup final defeat by a huge win in the inaugural match of current edition. India started their campaign with a victory over Australia. Matches and their result are the primary focus of the tournament. However, something which happened yesterday grabbed the eyeballs of cricket fans. It was Sybrand Engelbretch, the former Protea and current Netherlands player's ability to throw ball accurately with both his arms with equal efficiency. Anyone who has played any level of cricket knows that it's only one arm which can be efficient in the game. And countering to most of those who play, Engelbretch shook the cricket World.

His throws from both the hands had the commentators speak about it for some time. They were clearly left in awe of the small action, as rarely a throw gets spoken about by the commentators when there are much important things to mention. It was the ability to use both his arms with equal accuracy which took the commentators to surprise. Similar was the case in the India Australia series which preceded the world cup, where one saw a left handed David Warner opting to bat right handed. And while he did it, it didn't look like he was unable to get the things done. These incidents garner attention because ambidexterity is an uncommon phenomenon to witness in the world of cricket.

Ambidexterity can be defined as an art of doing any particular thing with equal efficiency with either of the arms. It's a rare feat to achieve in cricket, let alone for anything in the world. Someone able to bat with both the arms, or with both the arms is truly a piece of magic. It's astonishing in itself to see humans performing tasks with both the arms equally good. And hence, the world needs to know and recognise the people who have the superhuman ability to do so.

Being ambidextrous is a bonus for anyone who plays the gentlemen's game. Ambidextrous players can be broadly categorised in 4 different categories. The 1st category is of the players who bat and ball with the same arm, but do all their activities outside the sport with their primary arm being the other one. The 2nd category is of the players who bowl with a different arm, and bat with a different. For instance someone who is a right handed batter, and who bowls with a left armer comes in this particular category. The 3rd category is the batters who can bat both as right handed and left handed. And the last one perhaps fall in the most difficult category of players who could bowl with both their arms.

The best player to ever play the game, Sachin Tendulkar is one of the players who fall in the first category. The greatest batter of all time, he is a right handed batter and right handed bowler, but he identifies himself as a proud left handed human. He writes and gives his autograph with left hand. The 2nd category can include a whole lot of players, like Sourav Ganguly who batter left handed and bowled right handed. Zaheer Khan who batted right handed and bowled left handed also falls in the same category as Ganguly does. The 3rd section with the batters able to bat with either arms include list of players like David Warner and Smriti Mandhana. Both these players were initially right handed batters, who were advised to change and become southpaws. While Warner was advised to do it by his coach, Smriti did it after closely following her brother Shravan who batted left handed.

All these 3 categories require lot of commitment and grit in itself to use both the arms to perfection. However the most difficult of all these ambidextrous players is the 4th category where the player is able to bowl with both their arms. There are many of the players who can bowl with both the arms, but when it comes to accuracy of line and length while bowling with their usual now-bowling arm, they falter massively. Also it altogether affects the pace when they bowl with their now-bowling arm. In spite of this being the rarest skill set to achieve in the game of cricket, there are a few players who have achieved this stupendous feat.

Mohammad Hanif from Pakistan, Graham Cooch from England and Sri lanka's Hashan Tillakaratne are some examples of former players who have done it already. Tillakaratne did it in 1996 world cup match, when he bowled with both the arms in the same over itself. Amongst the current generation of active first class players, Kamindu Mendis from Srilanka Nivethan Radhakrishnan from Australia, Yasir Jan from Pakistan and Akshay Karnewar from India are few ambidextrous bowlers. Interestingly enough, Akshay Karnewar who plays for Vidarbha in domestic circuit, is the only bowler in the first class history to bowl all 4 maiden overs in the T20 game. Any bowler doing it is a marvellous feat, and what adds to the intensity of the record is that he did it by bowling with both his arms on that particular day.

Since the first class games unfortunately do not get that much attention and media coverage, these talented current ambidextrous with their rare talent have often gone unnoticed. And similar has been the case of women ambidextrous bowlers, as women's cricket still doesn't get the importance it deserves. Shaila Sharmin, who plays for Bangladesh was the first ambidextrous women bowler. Another player is Jemma Barsby who surprised everyone by her bowling accuracy with both the arms in Women's Big Bash League.

In a nutshell, there are many players who have done it in the past, and there will be many more to do it in the future as well. Lot of coaches are seriously rethinking to indulge this quality of being ambidextrous in youngsters,to help them contribute in multiple dimensions for the team's cause. And as fans of the game, this will be a treat for them to watch. In future, one might see many passionate cricketers coming up and liting the stage of international cricket with their ambidexterity prowess. It's interesting to see how the upgradation of game can lead to witness talents and skills which once looked impossible to fathom. Whether it will happen or not, only time will tell. But one can be more appreciative of the players who have acquired ambidexterity and come to team's rescue in more than one ways.

Watch the Engelbretch 's ambidextrous throws here