An apt way to end a glorious career (though prospects of rain , some rearguard batting display by the Indian tail enders and a spirited Malinga did seem to threaten Murali from reaching the landmark). With Murali's adieu to the game, an era has ended. Though, not quite a cricketing poster boy, he has served the SriLankan cricket very well.
We will be missing the man with big eyes , a bigger grin and even bigger turner of the cricket ball.
A cricket follower like me, will definitely feel sad and nostalgic, whenever cricketing legends of such stature decide to leave the game.
I feel blessed to be a part of a generation that has seen debut and growth of many mordern cricketers; most of them have gone on to become living legends from stark new comers.
I have witnessed the sensational test debut of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid at Lords in summer of 1996. I have seen Tendulkar making his Test debut against Pakistan in 1988 and winning laurels from then established greats like Imran Khan, Srikanth and Abdul qadir to name a few.
My growing up period was a transitional phase in world cricket. This phase saw some of the past players placing themselves on the pedestal of being great and young cricketers were making the world to sit back and watch their feats.
So, if on one hand I had the oppurtunity to see the exploits (in a limited amount) of Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Geoff Marsh, David Boon, Dean Jones, Mike Gatting then on the other I was enamored by the skills of Tendulkar, Lara, Ganguly, Dravid, Ponting, Waugh brothers, Jayasuriya, Warne, Kumble, Wasim Akram, Arvinda de Silva, Rhodes, Klusener, Kallis ..... really the list is endless.
With many players calling it a day (both Indian and foreign) and more about to do so, it really hurts somewhere in the heart. Not only because they were great exponents of the game but more because of the fact, that during my growing up years, many of them started playing the game and gradually as I understood the game in a better fashion, these players went from being good to great.
Who would fit in the shoes of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Jhonty Rhodes, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Ricky Ponting ?
Will I be able to witness swashbuckling opening partnerships, as once stitched by Sourav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar? All the Spin wizards have left the scene. Where will I get to see the sheer pace of Wasim Akram, Allan Donald or Courtney Walsh?
Who can forget the magical wrist work of Azhar?
The younger cricketing generation, though immensely talented, will take time to re-create the magic of their predecessors.
There has been a paradigm shift in world cricket in last 15 years or so.
Cricket itself has changed; there was a time when a run rate of 4/4.5 in a 50 over match was considered safe. Matches took place only in the days and cricket gear meant only whites. 20/20 was probably a distant dream then. Concept of powerplay, hawk eye, third umpire were unthinkable and alien.
But, as we all are aware, those unthinkable concepts have become part and parcel of modern day cricket and now no target can be considered safe to defend. Cricketers take the field in colorful attires with names of sponsors pasted from the head gear to the footwear. 20/20 is mantra of cricket and talks are on to schedule test cricket in day/night format. I forgot the mention the color of balls have also changed
I have witnessed the sensational test debut of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid at Lords in summer of 1996. I have seen Tendulkar making his Test debut against Pakistan in 1988 and winning laurels from then established greats like Imran Khan, Srikanth and Abdul qadir to name a few.
My growing up period was a transitional phase in world cricket. This phase saw some of the past players placing themselves on the pedestal of being great and young cricketers were making the world to sit back and watch their feats.
So, if on one hand I had the oppurtunity to see the exploits (in a limited amount) of Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar, Imran Khan, Geoff Marsh, David Boon, Dean Jones, Mike Gatting then on the other I was enamored by the skills of Tendulkar, Lara, Ganguly, Dravid, Ponting, Waugh brothers, Jayasuriya, Warne, Kumble, Wasim Akram, Arvinda de Silva, Rhodes, Klusener, Kallis ..... really the list is endless.
With many players calling it a day (both Indian and foreign) and more about to do so, it really hurts somewhere in the heart. Not only because they were great exponents of the game but more because of the fact, that during my growing up years, many of them started playing the game and gradually as I understood the game in a better fashion, these players went from being good to great.
Who would fit in the shoes of Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Steve Waugh, Jhonty Rhodes, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Ricky Ponting ?
Will I be able to witness swashbuckling opening partnerships, as once stitched by Sourav Ganguly & Sachin Tendulkar? All the Spin wizards have left the scene. Where will I get to see the sheer pace of Wasim Akram, Allan Donald or Courtney Walsh?
Who can forget the magical wrist work of Azhar?
The younger cricketing generation, though immensely talented, will take time to re-create the magic of their predecessors.
There has been a paradigm shift in world cricket in last 15 years or so.
Cricket itself has changed; there was a time when a run rate of 4/4.5 in a 50 over match was considered safe. Matches took place only in the days and cricket gear meant only whites. 20/20 was probably a distant dream then. Concept of powerplay, hawk eye, third umpire were unthinkable and alien.
But, as we all are aware, those unthinkable concepts have become part and parcel of modern day cricket and now no target can be considered safe to defend. Cricketers take the field in colorful attires with names of sponsors pasted from the head gear to the footwear. 20/20 is mantra of cricket and talks are on to schedule test cricket in day/night format. I forgot the mention the color of balls have also changed
It used to cherry red during "good old days". Now we have the "kookaburra whites" for day/night format.
Hopefully, we will continue to enjoy cricket for the right reasons…
Signing off /
