India bids Adieu to two Cricketing Greats
- In LifeStyle & Sports
- 04:01 PM, Oct 27, 2015
- Ekita Parmar
Zaheer Khan, the Indian fast bowler, announced his retirement from International cricket on 15th October. Though it was a mere formality as Cricket fans knew that he had played his last match in 2014 itself but it was an official end to a golden era. Zaheer Khan is considered by many to be the best fast bowler from India after Kapil Dev.
Zaheer khan, a left arm fast bowler who bowled at 140 kmh (rare for an Indian pacer), took 610 wickets across all the formats in International Cricket. But he was greater than what numbers suggest. For a team consistently struggling to find a pacer who can bowl a good line and length at pace, Zaheer khan was a boon. On his debut in 2000, his raw pace got wickets for Team India and he emerged as the team's trump card but over the years he concentrated more on the correct line and length. He mastered the art of reverse swing and became a headache for Left handers. The most prominent among them was former South African captain Graeme Smith whom he would consistently dismiss.
India won world cup in 2011 after 28 long years. But we had come very closer to winning tit in 2003. Although Zaheer Khan was widely criticized for his performance in the final (especially the opening over) which lead to heartbreaking loss. Apart from that match he had been spectacular in the series. He was the highest wicket taker for India with 18 wickets. We often forget him in bling of Sachin, Yuvraj and Dhoni's performances but he was a hero of 2011 world cup as well. He troubled opposition by taking early wickets and in later overs by deadly reverse swing which he used to get with an old ball. He ended up being the highest wicket taker with 21 wickets along with Shahid Afridi.
Zaheer khan is not known for aggressive behavior on field except that infamous "jelly bean" incident of 2007 Trent Bridge test where English players tried to distract him by throwing jelly beans while he was batting. He took sweet revenge by giving on the best performances of his career of 4-59 and 5-57 in the two innings which lead to Team India's first series win in England after 1986.
Injuries have been an unfortunate part of Zaheer’s career. Had he not suffered from several injuries, he would have left greater impact on Indian Cricket. Javagal Srinath, another great pacer of India says, "I believe if Zaheer had taken care of his body, he would have had another 100 Test match wickets." But Zaheer has different views, “You can only control the controllable and if you are injured you can't do anything about it and have to move on." And he did just that. He bravely faced the injury and always came back as better bowler.
Our nation is partial towards batsmen so Zaheer didn't get his due credit during his career but the fact that Team India hasn't been able to find his replacement says a lot about his impact. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has put it perfectly, "Zaheer Khan is the Sachin Tendulkar of Indian Bowling."
Sehwag– The Man who did it differently
Within a week of Zaheer Khan’s retirement, another legend of Indian Cricket, Virender Sehwag bids adieu to international cricket. Just like Zaheer Khan, we knew Sehwag’s international cricket is almost over but to see it officially ending left a void in our hearts.
Sehwag scored more than 17000 runs across the formats and took 136 wickets. But numbers don't justify him. Sehwag is one of the most destructive players that the game has ever seen. He is a slayer who likes to hit every ball and plays the most stunning and extraordinary shots effortlessly. He never believed in playing defensively and when he got going, many bowlers appeared toothless. He is a great entertainer and there was never a dull moment when he was on the crease.
Harsha Bhogle once said, “As his best, he takes you on a joyride laughing while you hold onto your seat.”
Sehwag debut in an ODI match against Pakistan in 1999. He didn't exactly have a fairytale start. He was trapped LBW at the score of 1 by Shoaib Akhtar and was widely criticized for his technique and footwork. He proved his critics wrong in years to follow by scoring 8273 runs with 15 centuries and 38 half centuries in ODIs. He is one of the very few batsmen to score a double century in limited overs Cricket.
Because of his attacking batting style and so called flawed technique, he wasn't considered a suitable player for Test Cricket. He got his Test Cap in 2001 against South Africa after playing 2 years of ODI and scored a brilliant century on debut by playing at Number 6. After Captain Sourav Ganguly made him open the innings, he revolutionized the batting style in Test Matches. Instead of playing defensive with a new ball and scoring runs after ball gets old, Viru started attacking a new ball. He stunned everyone by playing with strike rate of 82 against a new ball. He scored 8586 runs with 2 triple centuries and 6 double centuries and 23 centuries in Test Cricket. Just like Sanath Jayasuriya is remembered for changing opening batting in ODIs, Sehwag will be for Tests.
Sehwag is the only batsman in the history of cricket to make 7500+ runs in both Tests and ODIs as an opener. He has scored the fastest triple century and 2nd fastest double century. He has a record of winning the highest numbers of “Man of the Series” in Tests with Sachin Tendulkar. Sehwag’s assets were his clutter-free mind, brilliant hand-eye coordination and his bat speed. With passage of time, his reflexes slowed down and so did the scoreboard. He couldn't play his natural game and struggled on field. His tough phase lasted agonizingly long. The same aggressive batting style and fearless attitude which made him a legend became a reason for his worldwide criticism.
He was “rested” for a couple of series. There were even speculations about his rift with Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He was dropped from the team after the second test against Australia in March 2013 and never managed to come back. We state data and numbers to describe greatness of sportspersons but Sehwag was different. You have to watch him play to feel the magic of his game. It was a sheer joy to watch him playing his trademark upper-cuts. The last line of his official retirement statement, “I want to thank everyone for all the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologize for not accepting most of it. I had a reason for not following it; I did it my way.” perfectly explains his attitude on and off the field.
Yes, he played a great game but in his way.
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