Fifteen years from now, I will still claim Sourav Ganguly as my favorite player. I will still be admiring Rahul Dravid's impenetrable defense. I will still enjoy replays of VVS Laxman's shots. I will still feel proud on seeing Anil Kumble's 10 wicket haul. Cricket will never be the same to me again.
With Ricky Ponting coming out to the press and calling it quits, everyone is expecting the same from SRT. That call will come from him, may be not today, not tomorrow but some day and that day will leave in the cross roads. I can move on and support the Kohlis and Dhonis and Amlas. But I would rather collect all the videos that are there of Sourav, the Waugh brothers, RT Ponting, M Atherton, A Stewart and reminisce what was a golden age of the modern day International cricket.
Its been 15 years since I started following cricket. It was the finals of the Sharjah cup between India and Australia. I will never forget the 24 made by Sourav Ganguly. I will always cherish the days when I used to wake up 5 in the morning to see India bashed by the mighty Australians led by Stephen Waugh day after day, match after match.
There was something about Michael Slater that caught my eye. He proved it was not a bad idea to score at 4+ run rate in a test match. I could see perseverance paying big time for Justin Langer and Rahul Dravid. Adam Glichrist was out of the world. VVS and Mark Waugh were creating magic using their bats. Ylou could high just seeing their cover drives. Sangakkara and Mahela belong to the same class. M Azharuddin's footwork was one of the best.
Sourav Ganguly was different. A horrible fielder, an arrogant man and vulnerable to bouncers. In spite of all these, he can make Eden go crazy just by walking into it. I have seen the sixers from Afridi, Sanatha Jayasuriya, KP and every other strong built cricketer, but nothing came close to the sight of Sourav dancing down the track and lofting one outside the stadium.
Brian Lara was a craftsman of his own league. I always wondered how he could have so much time in having such a high bat lift and even after that he was able to strike the ball so clean. If SRT was Batman, Lara was Wolverine.
M Atherton and M Atapattu tested the spectators' patience. They would sweat it out, grind into the opponents nerves and would never want to leave the field. Rahul had the similar trait. He seemed to hate getting out. He just was not fond of that idea.
Brett Lee and Anil Kumble was warriors. Cricket meant more to them than almost anything. They get hurt, you see them back on the field in no time with a band aid. They along with M Hayden and the big Inzaman-ul-Haq had such a dominating presence over the opposite team.
Nathan Astle was a different story. He was the earlier version of B McCullum but with less dancing. The innings when he almost took NZ home when they were 9 down against England, those 4 sixes of Andy Caddick's over was quite a sight.
Glenn Mcgrath, SR Warne, Ambrose, Walsh, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram were just too good to bat against. M Muralitharan was a fox.
Gone are the days where the above mentioned players took the field and produced such excellent cricket. I am and will always be proud to have the most of the cricket played by them.
With Ricky Ponting coming out to the press and calling it quits, everyone is expecting the same from SRT. That call will come from him, may be not today, not tomorrow but some day and that day will leave in the cross roads. I can move on and support the Kohlis and Dhonis and Amlas. But I would rather collect all the videos that are there of Sourav, the Waugh brothers, RT Ponting, M Atherton, A Stewart and reminisce what was a golden age of the modern day International cricket.
Its been 15 years since I started following cricket. It was the finals of the Sharjah cup between India and Australia. I will never forget the 24 made by Sourav Ganguly. I will always cherish the days when I used to wake up 5 in the morning to see India bashed by the mighty Australians led by Stephen Waugh day after day, match after match.
There was something about Michael Slater that caught my eye. He proved it was not a bad idea to score at 4+ run rate in a test match. I could see perseverance paying big time for Justin Langer and Rahul Dravid. Adam Glichrist was out of the world. VVS and Mark Waugh were creating magic using their bats. Ylou could high just seeing their cover drives. Sangakkara and Mahela belong to the same class. M Azharuddin's footwork was one of the best.
Sourav Ganguly was different. A horrible fielder, an arrogant man and vulnerable to bouncers. In spite of all these, he can make Eden go crazy just by walking into it. I have seen the sixers from Afridi, Sanatha Jayasuriya, KP and every other strong built cricketer, but nothing came close to the sight of Sourav dancing down the track and lofting one outside the stadium.
Brian Lara was a craftsman of his own league. I always wondered how he could have so much time in having such a high bat lift and even after that he was able to strike the ball so clean. If SRT was Batman, Lara was Wolverine.
M Atherton and M Atapattu tested the spectators' patience. They would sweat it out, grind into the opponents nerves and would never want to leave the field. Rahul had the similar trait. He seemed to hate getting out. He just was not fond of that idea.
Brett Lee and Anil Kumble was warriors. Cricket meant more to them than almost anything. They get hurt, you see them back on the field in no time with a band aid. They along with M Hayden and the big Inzaman-ul-Haq had such a dominating presence over the opposite team.
Nathan Astle was a different story. He was the earlier version of B McCullum but with less dancing. The innings when he almost took NZ home when they were 9 down against England, those 4 sixes of Andy Caddick's over was quite a sight.
Glenn Mcgrath, SR Warne, Ambrose, Walsh, Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram were just too good to bat against. M Muralitharan was a fox.
Gone are the days where the above mentioned players took the field and produced such excellent cricket. I am and will always be proud to have the most of the cricket played by them.
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