it’s interesting to note how players evolve and reinvent themselves over the years. the biggest current example is Dilshan. I haven’t seen him play much but always had this impression that he was a pretty mediocre player prone to throwing his wicket away. and now seems like he could even walk on water if he wished. he has become a fearsome and consistent batsman.
the biggest example of course is Jayasuria who had one hell of a rebirth around the 96 world cup that propelled him into the top echelons of cricketing royalty for the following decade or so. other guys I can think of are Moin Khan, Carl Hooper and Aravinda Desilva.
DeSilva became a consistent, classy matchwinner around/after the 96 world cup. I remember watching him bat in South Africa (in 97?). Waqar (I think) was bowling and he bowled a low fulltoss to Atapattu. Atapattu easily pushed the ball through the covers and took an easy single. DeSilva faced the next ball. the ball was identical, the shot was identical but the result was not. DeSilva simply pushed the ball gently and the ball just raced away to the cover boundary all along the ground. it was a perfect illustration of the difference between a good batsman and a great batsman.
Hooper who didn’t seem to stand out much given that Richie Richardson and Lara were the star batsmen of the team in that era. but I remember a time, when he was performing consistently both with bat and ball in the mid to late 90s. became a pretty handy allrounder for a bit and was considered the dangerman from the Windies side. or maybe my memory is playing tricks on me in my old age.
similarly, Moin although a gutsy competitor throughout his career became one of the best late-order hitters in the world in the late 90s to the early 2000s. in the last part of his career, he led many rescue efforts and brought the team back from the brink of disaster. on other occasions, he put many matches out of the reach of the opposition by transforming a good total into a near impossible target by his fearsome death over assaults.
any other guys that you can think of who looked totally mediocre for a good part of their career and then went on to become world beaters later on in their careers?