Johan Botha began his cricketing career as an ordinary medium pacer but it was after Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, had a look at him in the nets and saw something else that Botha dropped his ambitions for speed. Spurred by Arthur's comments that he would do well to turn to spin, Botha remodeled his action and began studying the art of the doosra - the ball that turns away from the right-handed batsman - in hopes of emulating the wiles of Harbhajan Singh.
Botha's brilliance as a one-day cricketer saw him rise to captaining the limited-overs leg of South Africa's trip to Australia in Graeme Smith's absence, leading the team to a series win. Though he has faced competition for his place as a spinning allrounder from Roelof van der Merwe, Botha remains a fixture in South Africa's one-day set-up, as well as their T20 line-up when he's not playing with the Adelaide Strikers, Northamptonshire, or the Rajasthan Royals.