WATCH: Vidarbha spinner Akshay Karnewar bowls with both right and left arm in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16

Vidarbha spinner Akshay Karnewar performed an unusual feat during the ongoing Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16, bowling both right-arm off-spin and left-arm spin in the same match. This is not the first time in competitive cricket that a bowler has done this, with Sri Lankan spinner Hashan Tillakaratne having changed from bowling left-arm spin to off-spin mid-over in a match against Kenya during the 1996 World Cup. It is the only known time in international cricket that a bowler changed from bowling with arm to another mid-over. It is not particularly strange to see a cricketer proficient with both hands, as ambidextrous cricketers are quite common. However, they usually bat left-handed and bowl right-handed or vice versa.

There are a number of cricketers who bat left-handed and bowl right-handed such as Suresh Raina, Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Graeme Smith, Clive Lloyd, Adam Gilchrist, Ben Stokes, Kumar Sangakkara, Stuart Broad, Gautam Gambhir, Lance Klusener, Andy Flower, Curtly Ambrose, Richard Hadlee, Russell Arnold, Arjuna Ranatunga, Moeen Ali, David Warner, Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson, Shikhar Dhawan, Alastair Cook, Michael Hussey, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, and many more.

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There are also those who bat right-handed and bowl left-handed, such as Wahab Riaz, Michael Clarke, Trent Boult, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Neil Johnson, Venkatapathy Raju, Vinoo Mankad, Bishan Singh Bedi, Ravi Shastri, Derek Underwood, and Vinod Kambli. There seem to be more of the former, but the latter is also true. READ: World Cup 1996: Sri Lanka butcher Kenya before Hashan Tillakaratne swaps hands mid-over

It stands to reason that there would be cricketers adept at bowling with both hands, though to see it happen in the same match is a rarity of the highest order.