Kya Hai Ki.: March 2008

Came year 1996,Cricket saw a new player…Australia saw a fresh new recruit enter the arena as
a wicket-keeper batsman who revolutionized that very term.
After being selected to play for New South Wales in 1992-1993 season where he played as just a batsman. In the very first season he assured his team a test victory over Queensland to clinch the Sheffield Shield.
In 1994 he joined the Western Australia team where he made 55 dismissals in his first season, the most by any wicketkeeper in Australian cricket in 1994–95. He continued to top the number of dismissals in the second season as well with 58 catches and 4 stumpings along with a handsome batting average of 50.52. Gilchrist went on to make a massive 189not out in the final of the Sheffield Shield at the Adelaide Oval
The 1996–97 season saw him top of the dismissals leaderboard once again, with 62, along with a batting average of just under 40. The 1997–98 season ended with Gilchrist top of the dismissals for the third season in a row with an improved batting average of 47.66.

Gilchrist was called up for the Australian One Day International team in 1996, his debut coming against South Africa at Faridabad,25th October 1996 as the 129h Australian ODI.

It seems to be so very amusing to see how a local boy at WACA, Perth replacing the best keeper of that time ,Ian Healy, go on to become a Nationwide Hero and why not, he indeed is a Hero to the true sense.

Came the 7th edition of the cricket World Cup and Gilchrist was a part of the Australian team in every game enroute their second World Cup victory ,1st being 1987.His quick fire 63 runs of 39 balls against Bangladesh was a total treat to the eyes of any cricket lover and not to forget the half-century in the finals of that world cup which helped the team to register their victory over the team which had clinched this very title in 1992,Pakistan.

Came 1999,And Gilchrist wore whites and represented the country on the field for the first time making his debut against Pakistan at the Gabba in Brisbane in November 1999 and became the 381st Australian Test cricketer.

Gilchrist has always played a pivotal role in the all important Ashes tournament against the English.The 2001 version of this series saw him excel and raise to new heights with a whooping batting average of 68.00 and caused 26 dismissals behind the stumps in the 5 matches played in the series.

Two years went by and came another edition of the World Cup which once again went to Australia. Gilchrist struck the ball at an average of 40.80 throughout the series and effected a record of 21 dismissals ending up being the maximum number of dismissals by any wicketkeeper in that edition of the World Cup. Once again he showed his sheer form and class in the finals against India and scored a yet another half century.

But the most memorable World Cup final had to be the one in 2007 [yeah the one in which India lost to Bangladesh and Pakistan to Ireland]…Gilly scored a blistering 104 balls 149 with 13 boundaries and 8 biggies. I still remember very well, I had watched the whole of his innings and trust me , he left me in tears ,the way he played is, was, and will be totally admirable.

His approach to cricket was very interesting indeed. Opening the batting for Australia he was rightly termed as “The Demolition Man” who did the bulk of the scoring in the first 15 overs, with his gusty blows on the offside through covers and the most elegant pull shots on the onside, and then consolidated with intelligent batting. Indeed Australia had found a genius.

He transformed another aspect of this game in the modern era, the attitude of batting in the longer version of the game. Test matches were no longer synonymous with the reduction of risk or nailing down the opposition bowling attack. He always had a mind set that, if he thought he could clear the field and pierce the fielders on every ball, he would gladly do so.Coming in at number8, he could turn tables of any match from any situation with his solid hitting.Demoralising the bowlers and disrupting their line and length was his forte,something which he did skillfully,even in a test match....
There have been many swashbucklers before Gilchrist, but none so calculating or consistent.

Apart from being such a prolific and talented sportsperson, he was also highly respected for “walking” off the field when he was Out without waiting for the Umpire’s decision. The self realization and truthfulness and dedication towards the game has indeed been inspiring. Ironic is will seem when we see that this great player belongs to the team whose present captain ,scoring over 11,000 runs in international circuit is easily the most infamous captain for ever so many reasons. Being provocative or claiming catches off the pads and the ground or standing after nicking the ball to the keeper, everything was so unethical[If I have offended any of the Ponting fans out there, then I’d feel immensely proud of myself]…then there can be players ,considered to be the God of cricket scoring over 16,000 runs and yet not walking[only one occasion though] …I just hope I’m not offending any “Cricket Freak” here [I’m so going to get beaten up for this]

On 26th January 2008,at the close of play on the first day of the test match against India at Adelaide, Gilly announced his retirement from international cricket at the end of the season. The reason for this move ,he stated in an interview as “Catches are going down so I feel this is the right time to hang up my boots”[rephrased]….
Cricket at the international level ,is a lot about emotions. The relationship between Adam Gilchrist and WACA crowd had been indeed very special. They had seen a cricketer with a good domestic record transform into the best wicket keeper batsman to been produced in the history of this game .
Gilly in his last game at the WACA, bared his heart before an audience that saw him groom into such a high stature in this sport. He bid goodbye to his home crowd ,playing there for the last time on February 15th against the Srilankans by scoring 118 off 132 balls with 9 boundaries and clearing the ropes on 3 occasions. The manner in which he reacted after getting his hundred showed how he really wanted to get it and for a change he had been conscious of the approaching feat.He took his time and relied on singles to reach ,what became his last innings at his home ground at Perth.

Tony Greig quoted “He did great things with the bat, with the gloves. For me, I donot think there is anyone else like him”

And for me ,he has always been an underrated players with the likes of Tendulkars Laras and the Jayasuriyas taking away all the credit.Nevertheless he was a batsman in the same genre and will always be remembered as the most disciplined on-field player.
Australia had found the best combination of lethal batting and agile keeping in Gilly and replacing him is going to be impossible .We also saw Gichrist wannabes in the form of Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India) and Brendon McCUllum(Newzealand) but neither of them even come close to matching the standards of Gilly himself and I'm sure they surely cannot achieve such a feat in this lifetime.Surely, there can be just one Gilchrist...
My wildest dream would only be to get to meet this larger than life cricketer, exchange Pleasantries and share just one moment and convey to him that even in a cricket crazy country like India, with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, there is an 18 year old kid who admires you more than anyone else in his life.

Gilly….You will definitely be missed…
The amazing slashes…
The piercing square cuts…
The elegant Pull shots…
The powerful drives…
The cheeky glances…
The intellingent stumpings…
The ever so agile catches…
The most mesmorising smile…
The most charming personality…
Above all, Gem of a human being…
Gilly….You will definitely be missed!!!!

***[Some parts of the article are the rephrased versions of articles from THE SPORTSTAR]***

Kya Hai Ki.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Things Do Change...

Friday, March 14, 2008

I Often Wonder....

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Adam Gilchrist....!!