End of a Different World!!

Whether the world really ends in 2012 December or not, 2012 will be remembered as end of a different world if you are cricket fan. 2012 marks the end of the glorious international careers of the legends, great champion players and gentlemen - Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Mark Boucher, Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting.

It was only after 1996 world cup in India I started following cricket with great interest as game got wide coverage with the advent of satellite channels in India. It was about that time these players - Ponting, Dravid, Laxman and Boucher who started their careers in international cricket, went on to play the game for about 15 years and today are remembered as legends of the game.

Rahul Dravid - He was among the "Few Good Men" to play international cricket. He played in era when media and masses were crazy about likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Shewag.... but his records specially his contributions in test victories overseas speaks for itself. He did everything during his tenture- Opened in test matches under difficult conditions, played in middle up and down the order, Kept Wickets, took most numbers of catches at slips and even bowled at times when his captain wanted.

VVS Laxman - The unsung hero among the India batting greats. His 281 runs against Aussies at Kolkata will remain immortal in public memory but there were many of his 4th innings scores with tail enders which saved or won many test matches for India that went unnoticed. 

Mark Boucher - The man with most number of overall dismissals in international cricket for a wicketkeeper. Believe it of not its 999! Had it not been for the eye injury he would have played for some more time got that amazing 1000 dismissals. He was integral part of South African team for almost 15 years and part of their journey that made them number 1 team in tests.

Brett Lee - He retired from Tests in 2010 because of his frequent injuries, he continued to play other international forms cricket till 2012. I still remember watching the test series in Vidhyashala dairy during Lunch break in 1999 when Lee started against India. He used to be really quick and bowl consistently 150km+. He was a champion bowler for Australia who took close to 700 wickets at international level and was more popular in India because of his Bollywood connections. 

Ricky Ponting - I remember him as a Angry Young Man, when he toured India during his early part of career somehow he always looked angry to me. But as his journey continued he became one of the pillar in Australian middle order went on to captain the side that won two world cups, a champion’s trophy and as a test team dominated all the teams for many years.

Today most of the players are identified based on the amount they earn in the cricket league rather than the number of runs they scored/ wickets they took for their country at the highest level. With all these legends of the game retiring from international cricket, cricket as a game is left with just a handful of legends and champion cricketers. With so many local leagues, too many meaning less matches, controversies and scandals the game is no longer a gentleman's game... slowly the cricketing world has changed altogether. 

Updated on 24th Dec: Well.. Well.. unexpected but had to happen some day. Sachin Tendulkar has retired from ODI cricket. What can I say about him, stats don't lie!!!.. there will not be another SRT. Thanks for everything Sachin. 

Also world didn't end on 21st Dec, but with all the above players gone certainly cricket world has ended for many fans. Mayans must be laughing somewhere!!! :)