What is common to
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Michael Clarke, Graeme Swann, Graeme Smith, Mitchell
Johnson and now Brendon McCullum?
Well, for one, they
are supremely successful players.
Dhoni has the unique
distinction of leading India to a win on every platform that was made available
– the One Day World Cup, the T 20 World Cup, Champions trophy.
Michael Clarke holds
the unique distinction of scoring a triple century and a double century in the
same series. In a team that prides itself in being ridiculously successful, Michael
Clarke, as Captain further embellished it with whitewashes over India, England
and of course a world cup win.
To fans of cricket who
felt that raw pace of the Lillee, Thomson, Holding, Marshall, Garner kind was
extinct, Mitchell Johnson proved that it was not a dead art. At his best, he terrorized
the best batsmen of the world to submission.
Graeme Swann bowled
for a country not famous for spin. England. A purist’s delight, he just bowled the
off spin variety beautifully. And, got wickets in bucketfulls. When on song,
Swann was quite difficult to get away from.
Graeme Smith had the
privilege of becoming South Africa’s captain at a miraculously young age of 22
and played a pivotal role in South Africa’s ascent to the number 1 position in
test cricket. Credit also goes to him for playing a vital role in conjuring up
an impossible win while chasing 434 runs in an ODI, a record that might never
get beaten.
McCullum! He has
shaken up New Zealand’s approach to cricket. When the pantheon of NZ Gods is
looked at a few years from now, he will occupy a coveted place along with Sir
Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe.
What is also common to
them, apart from cricketing genius is their hanging of the cricketing boots
from the purest form of cricket – test cricket at just 34 (give or take a few
months).
Playing Cricket is
almost like running a marathon. It is a test of endurance. Like in all sports,
the formative years start early, say at 7 or 8. But, cricketers have long
careers. It is not a sprint to superstardom but a long winding journey to the
top.
Unlike Athletics (Usain
Bolt ran his fastest 100 metres in 9.58 secs when he was just 23), Badminton (Lin
Dan, possibly the greatest badminton player ever, completed his super grand
slam at the age of 28), Gymnastics (Nadia Comaneci became the first woman gymnast
to score a perfect 10 when she was 25 ) or Tennis (the great Federer has found
it difficult to win a Grand Slam after 31), cricket is a long haul. The players
are the peak of their game in the late 20s and early 30s and keep improving
with age.
Marathon has a concept
of “hitting the wall” or “bonking”. Between
the 20th and the 22nd mile of the marathon, just when the
end seems near, a marathoner experiences a collapse of the entire system - the body
and form, brains and soul (source runnersworld.com).
The runners who are
able to surmount this, go on to attain sporting Nirvana, the exhilarating
feeling of having conquered the 26 miles.
In many ways, the
players who quit at 34 possibly gave up when they hit the wall, little realizing
the glory that possibly lay ahead.
Sachin Tendulkar won
the Garfield Sobers trophy for the player of the year in 2010, when he was 37. He
also scored the world’s first ODI double century the same year.
Kumar Sangakkara
scored four successive centuries in a world cup at 37.
Imran Khan was brought
back from retirement by the Pakistani President and at the age of 39 helped
Pakistan attain the pinnacle of cricketing glory, the world cup win in 1992.
Shane Warne, always a
brilliant exponent of the art of leg spin saved his best for the Ashes series
in England, taking 40 wickets and stood between a whitewash and a 2-1 series
score, at the age of 36.
By retiring at the age
of 34 and hitting the imaginary wall that precedes greatness, have the likes of
Dhoni, Smith, McCullum and Johnson stopped their careers at the last base camp
before scaling their personal Everest?
A question that will
surely haunt them in years to come…
