South Africa are among the top-ranked cricketing teams in this world. They have achieved a lot of success in bilateral cricket, and they were the top team on the ICC Rankings for quite some time.
Some of the greatest players of world cricket were born in South Africa, and a majority of them played for the Proteas at the international level as well. Great names like Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and several others were born in South Africa and played for the rainbow nation.
However, in this listicle today, we will look at five such cricketers who were born in Asian nations but ended up playing for the Proteas.
1. Current South Africa leg-spinner Imran Tahir
Imran Tahir was born in Pakistan and even played for Pakistan at the U-19 level, but he represented the Proteas at the senior level. Tahir is no longer a part of the Proteas squad in any format, but he has been playing in T20 leagues.
2. Former South Africa batter Robert Stewart
Not many fans would know Robert Stewart, but he played one Test match for the Proteas. It was against England back in 1889. Stewart was born in Azamgarh, India.
3. Godfrey Cripps
Godfrey Cripps was a right-handed batter and a right-arm bowler who played one Test match for the Proteas. The Mussoorie-born player’s first and last Test match came against England in 1892.
4. Bob Crisp
Bob Crisp was born in Kolkata city of India on May 28, 1911. He played nine Test matches for the Proteas, scoring 123 runs and picking up 20 wickets. Crisp was a right-arm fast bowler.
5. Tommy Ward
Tommy Ward was a wicket-keeper batter from Rawalpindi, who played 23 matches for the Proteas. He scored 459 runs in those 23 games. Ward never bowled a delivery for the Proteas as he kept the wickets for them.
