A budding cricketer had to toil hard day and night to gain an entry in the International Cricket. It is not the hard work and tons of runs in the domestic circuit that guarantee the access. Beyond the boundary, the cricketer should know to pull a few strings to get the nod ahead of his contemporaries, considering talent is abundant these days. Again the national reckoning doesn’t guarantee the players debut. One has to wait without a set timeline. It all depends on how lucky the cricketer is for the senior to get injured or axed or any other phenomenon that actually leads up to his debut.
Phew… big story isn’t it? But it’s only the end of the first stage.
The real quest is to make an illustrative career after the debut. The challenge is thousand times bigger and so are the required effort levels. There are so many cricketers who made the entry but vanished pretty quickly from the scene. Just to make this post little interesting here I pick some names randomly. Atul Bedade, Noel David, Dodda Ganesh, David Johnson, Vijay Bhardwaj, Hrishikesh Kanitkar, Debang Gandhi, Debashish Mohanty, Harvinder Singh. Do these names ring a bell? Trust me… these guys are surely talented. Just that they failed to deliver successfully in the international circuit. Surely there is a tender story behind it.
Then there are some others who lose the plot at the half way. Nobody can deny Vinod Kambli, Ajay Jadeja, Mohammad Kaif all finished far too early in the international circuit.
But those who make this epic voyage successfully also go on to clinch your heart to become your idol. They grow to be your source of inspiration. Eventually you turn into his diehard fan. Then you go on to talk about his feat for generations. Do you really need some names?
In reality, translating the talent to performance irrespective of play field and the ability to survive the rigors of international cricket requires more of mental makeup than the technique and skill levels of the cricketer. For example, Chanderpaul is not the most elegant, graceful and technically sound cricketer to survive international cricket for over a decade. If not for Sachin Tendulkar not sure anybody could play 2 decades of grueling international regime with flying color and still maintain strong.
But a perfect script to a fairy tale career is defined by the dot. Many cricketers forget to sign off the game in style. Kapil Dev nearly played the last 10 Tests only to finish as the world’s leading wicket taker. Guess what, Murali has bagged almost double the no. of wickets than Kapil Dev. Sometimes if cricketers prolog career for the sake of record, it is similar to running after a women. Chances are good that they will not stick longer. However if records come your way, they are likely to live with you for a greater length of a period.
In today’s era except for few names here and there like Jayasuriya, Chaminda Vaas, Mohammad Yusuf most cricketers plan their exit. Srinath, Kumble, Steve Waugh, Shane Warne, Gilchrist, Hayden, Ganguly are all classic examples of a proper sign off. Infact many of us still believe these legends departed definitely a season or two ahead of their tenure. Unlike yesteryear, cricketers had to be shown doors to remind their time is up.
Bottomline: The success of a cricketer is defined by the no of fans cry on his last day of the game. I’m sure every Indian will be in sorrow when Tendulkar bids adieu. Don’t worry. This post has nothing to do with Tendulkar’s retirement. Keep your chin up. He will only sign off after India successfully defended the 2015 World Cup. At that time you will not be sure if you are crying in joy or sorrow. But for sure you will think about crazycricketlover had you read this post.
Quick Bites
At 191/3 in 40 overs, Sarwan was batting on 56 with Bravo on the other end, WI looked all set to steal the game away from India. But then Sarwan falls to Munaf and that brought Pollard to the crease. WI took the batting powerplay immediately to back the big hitter. But Raina carried on with Mishra who rightly foxed Pollard, later Bravo and finally Baugh to seal the game for India. WI collapsing to finish fewer than 250 runs on a better batting wicket. The young guns will smile another day.
Dinesh
Cricket Lover
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