Are cricketers born or made? 

Was Sachin Tendulkar born as the best batsman of all time or Shoaib Akhtar with that rapid pace or Lasith Malinga with those yorkers? The answer to that is they were kind of born like that, but there is something more to it. The bigger question is if all the aforesaid cricketers became the best purely because of their natural talent or they did something that others were not doing.

Obviously, there is no simple answer to that; you will have to understand their daily routine, the number of hours they put in, and the number of balls they bowled or faced. 

In this piece, we have tried to find out if all the cricketers that play for their national side are born with a natural ability to become a cricketer, or they are shaped through a rigorous routine from a young age to reach where they are. Let's get started by trying to answer if having just the talent is enough to play international cricket.

What makes a cricketer stand out from others, talent or hard work? 

In short, you will need both; you will have to work hard no matter how much talent you have. However, gifted people have to put in less effort, which is also true. That said, "Hard work beats talent if talent stops working hard." When it comes to sports like cricket, this becomes even more true. In other words, you will need to work hard no matter how much natural talent you have. 

Take the example of Rohit Sharma; he was one of the most talented youngsters during the 2007s. He was even a part of the 2007 World Cup-winning India side. However, his contributions were not that great. Soon after, he was dropped; he was not part of the 2011 world cup squad.

On the other hand, Virat Kohli, who arrived at the scene much later, became a regular part of the international cricket squad before Rohit Sharma. If you compare both of them, you will find out Virat is not as gifted as Rohit, but the former became a permanent part of the ODI squad before Rohit. Now, when Rohit worked hard and played to his potential, he just changed everything; he is the only batsman to score 3 double centuries in ODI cricket. 

It is clear from the above example that cricket is not just about the natural talent or natural ability; it is also about the number of hours you put into it.

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The daily routine of cricketers

We won't even need to guess that cricketers have a very rigorous training routine; they have to keep themselves fit, and they have to keep working on their skills every day to enhance them even further. Moreover, they have to work on their non-primary skills because that has become a basic necessity nowadays; every team needs bowlers who can bat and batsmen who can bowl. 

Anyways, the daily routine of the player depends on his/her particular role. In other words, a fast bowler has a different daily process when compared to a spinner, batsman, or keeper. For professional cricketers, these schedules are designed by the best physical trainers and coaches in the country.

Generally, the daily routine of international players includes 5 hours of practice, out of which 2 hours are given for work-out and fielding, whereas 3 hours are devoted to skills practice. However, this doesn't apply to budding cricketers; they don't have the resources or the skills to follow such a routine. 

For instance, Virat Kohli's routine nowadays is different from what it used to be during his under-19 days or even after that. In 2012, he used to eat anything, and didn't have much sleep; he said the same in an interview. And this is the case with most budding cricketers, they sweat hard on the ground for long hours with a cricket bat or ball, but after the practice, their routine is not fixed.

And that's where coaches come in; Budding cricketers are generally guided by their coaches until they play at the state level. That's why it is important to choose the right cricketing coaches and academies. Here we have explained how to find an ideal cricket academy.

Products used by the standout cricketers

Now, let's talk about the products used by some of the most famous cricketers since products do impact performance. In fact, the equipment can significantly enhance a player's performance. Hence, in order to perform the best, cricketers need to make sure they are using the equipment that is best for them. 

Moreover, before starting, it is important to note that it is difficult to generalize products used by famous cricketers since everyone has their own preference; everyone uses a different kind of bat, pads, shoes, and more.

So, we have tried dividing them into different categories instead of generalizing them. Here is what we have found out.

Note: The list of cricketers includes players that were gifted and players that were not as gifted.

Bats

Pads

Shoes

Helmet

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Stats of Famous International cricketers

To add more credibility to whatever we have previously said, here are the ODI stats of some of the most famous cricketers i

Batsman

Bowlers

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that an individual can be born with talent, but he achieves something with that talent with the right amount of hard work and effort to make his presence felt in the world.

No one can be born with top-notch bowling or batting skills; it's the practice and techniques that are taught to them; some people adopt those skills quickly, while some take time either they play in test cricket, ODI, world cup, or any form of cricket.