There are many unlucky cricketer, I have mentioned few of them below.
1) GAUTAM GAMBHIR
Instance 1)World Cup Final t20 2007.
When MSD's top batting line up was falling apart.
Gautam Gambhir stood tall and helped India reach a respectable total.
Result:India won
Man of the Match-Irfan Pathan.
Few days later no one remembered his valour match saving innings.
Instance 2)World Cup Final ODI 2011
Indian team was in turmoil after Sehwag Sachin and Kohli fell ealry chasing a not so huge total of 274.Most of us had almost given up on Indias chances of winning the World Cup.One more wicket at that moment would have almost ensured Srilanka of yet another World Cup title after 15 years.But Gambhir refused to give up.He hung in there unshaken and unstirred and scored a brilliant 97.
Result:India won the world cup after 28 years
Man of the Match:MS Dhoni
Few days later people remembered Ms dhoni as the man who brought us the world cup.
Instance 3)Napier test match 2009 against New Zealand.I think this was by far the best innings i have ever seen him play.
India was following on thanks to the mammoth innings played by jesse ryder and taylor and average bowling performance by the visiting team.A comprehensive win was on the cards for the Kiwis.But Gautam Gambhir had another plans he stood in there
for around 10 hours and faced some 400 odd balls to make his century with a strike rate of just above 30 .His resilient innings helped India save the test match.This is what he had to say after that innings.
"I remember I called up a very close friend and told him I had a very strong gut feeling that I was going to bat for two days. It was very instinctive. I was batting on 20-something then"
But unfortunately again no one talks about this innings.
He is Zimbabwe's former player and captain of 2015 world cup team for Zimbabwe.
Do you know how much he was paid - just 250$ for the world cup campaign.
He played his last game for Zimbabwe on 15 March 2015 against India and ended with a magnificent century. He has signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Notthighamshire which prohibits him to join back his national team for the term and there is a least possibility that he will ever make up to his national team.
Though Zimbabwe were out of the Tournament in Group Stage, he was the 4th highest scorer in the 2015 world cup hitting 2 back to back centuries against Ireland and India.
I think this guy deserves respect.
He hit back to back centuries in ODI's against New Zealand in 2011 (128* and 107*). He repeated the same feat in his two of the ultimate matches.
Also he has maximum number of international ODI centuries for Zimbabwe to his name.
Just look him up in Wikipedia and you will know why. Here are some facts that make him the topper of the list.
Amol Muzumdar was a Legend of Mumbai Cricket, no doubt in that.
In his pomp, he battered stumps and toes with yorkers, he even kept the best of batsmen on tenterhooks with his ability to swing the ball both ways at genuine pace.
In fact, Bond was the second fastest bowler to reach 100 wickets in ODIs.
His statistics are better than Brett Lee and Dale Steyn. It is rather pitiful that a bowler of his calibre had his career cut short due to injuries.
Despite landing on the surgeon's table more often than not, Bond refused to compromise on pace, a ploy, which raised as many eyebrows as it did praise. However, amid all the mishaps Bond's guts and firepower stood out.
The recurrence of injuries - back problems, knee troubles, abdominal tear, stress fractures all relegated Bond to the sidelines. The back injury was was the most severe of the lot, so much so that a titanium wire was fused to his spine for recovery and stabilization.
During his international career, injury forced Bond to miss twice as many matches as he played.
His significant injuries included:
1) GAUTAM GAMBHIR
When MSD's top batting line up was falling apart.
Gautam Gambhir stood tall and helped India reach a respectable total.
Result:India won
Man of the Match-Irfan Pathan.
Few days later no one remembered his valour match saving innings.
Instance 2)World Cup Final ODI 2011
Indian team was in turmoil after Sehwag Sachin and Kohli fell ealry chasing a not so huge total of 274.Most of us had almost given up on Indias chances of winning the World Cup.One more wicket at that moment would have almost ensured Srilanka of yet another World Cup title after 15 years.But Gambhir refused to give up.He hung in there unshaken and unstirred and scored a brilliant 97.
Result:India won the world cup after 28 years
Man of the Match:MS Dhoni
Few days later people remembered Ms dhoni as the man who brought us the world cup.
Instance 3)Napier test match 2009 against New Zealand.I think this was by far the best innings i have ever seen him play.
for around 10 hours and faced some 400 odd balls to make his century with a strike rate of just above 30 .His resilient innings helped India save the test match.This is what he had to say after that innings.
"I remember I called up a very close friend and told him I had a very strong gut feeling that I was going to bat for two days. It was very instinctive. I was batting on 20-something then"
But unfortunately again no one talks about this innings.
2) Brendan Taylor
Do you know how much he was paid - just 250$ for the world cup campaign.
He played his last game for Zimbabwe on 15 March 2015 against India and ended with a magnificent century. He has signed a three-year Kolpak deal with Notthighamshire which prohibits him to join back his national team for the term and there is a least possibility that he will ever make up to his national team.
Though Zimbabwe were out of the Tournament in Group Stage, he was the 4th highest scorer in the 2015 world cup hitting 2 back to back centuries against Ireland and India.
I think this guy deserves respect.
He hit back to back centuries in ODI's against New Zealand in 2011 (128* and 107*). He repeated the same feat in his two of the ultimate matches.
Also he has maximum number of international ODI centuries for Zimbabwe to his name.
3) Amol Muzumdar
Amol Muzumdar was a Legend of Mumbai Cricket, no doubt in that.
4) Shane Bond
In fact, Bond was the second fastest bowler to reach 100 wickets in ODIs.
His statistics are better than Brett Lee and Dale Steyn. It is rather pitiful that a bowler of his calibre had his career cut short due to injuries.
To know what the cricket world missed, here are his statistics:
Injuries:
The recurrence of injuries - back problems, knee troubles, abdominal tear, stress fractures all relegated Bond to the sidelines. The back injury was was the most severe of the lot, so much so that a titanium wire was fused to his spine for recovery and stabilization.
During his international career, injury forced Bond to miss twice as many matches as he played.
His significant injuries included:
5) Marcus Trescothik
Marcus Trescothik is one of the finest English cricketers of our time. When he broke into the team in 2000 everyone believed he was destined for greatness. He was in an impeccable form during the first 5-6 years of his career. Having played only 76 tests and 143 ODIs for England, he was one the greatest openers England had. He has scored the most number of centuries (12) for England in ODIs. He played 92 consecutive ODIs without missing a single game in the period between 2000-2004.
When all seemed to be going well, he started suffering from stress related illness. In 2000 England's tour of India he abruptly returned home. Though he scored 3 more centuries after making a come back in the same year, he was never the same. He suffered fromclinical depression and his International career almost came to an end. He continued playing in the domestic circuit scoring tons of runs. But he claimed that he wasn't ready for a International match due to his recurring stress related illness. He announced his retirement from International cricket in 2008. He has been the captain of the Somerset side since the last 4 years and still continues to score lots of runs.
He describes the anxiety that broods within him as "the beast that lives inside".
Marcus Trescothik is one of the finest English cricketers of our time. When he broke into the team in 2000 everyone believed he was destined for greatness. He was in an impeccable form during the first 5-6 years of his career. Having played only 76 tests and 143 ODIs for England, he was one the greatest openers England had. He has scored the most number of centuries (12) for England in ODIs. He played 92 consecutive ODIs without missing a single game in the period between 2000-2004.
When all seemed to be going well, he started suffering from stress related illness. In 2000 England's tour of India he abruptly returned home. Though he scored 3 more centuries after making a come back in the same year, he was never the same. He suffered fromclinical depression and his International career almost came to an end. He continued playing in the domestic circuit scoring tons of runs. But he claimed that he wasn't ready for a International match due to his recurring stress related illness. He announced his retirement from International cricket in 2008. He has been the captain of the Somerset side since the last 4 years and still continues to score lots of runs.
He describes the anxiety that broods within him as "the beast that lives inside".
6) IRFAN PATHAN
We must have heard this several times in cricket that, ‘it is very important for the coaches of every team to look after their players carefully or else they will perish’. It is true in every sense. Not just in cricket, it is a reality in life.
There are people in different fields who try their best to perform according to their fullest potential. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they don’t. The important part is not that whether they perform or not, if they are talented, they should be motivated, given more opportunities and make them involved or else they will perish. Similar is a case with a ‘lost player’ of the Indian Cricket Team who was once a regular in the playing XI but today has minimum chance to board the flight for Australia and New Zealand in a few months time for the country’s title defence in World Cup 2015. He is none other than, the once regarded ‘blue-eyed boy’ of Team India, Irfan Pathan.
The rise and fall of Pathan has been shocking to see. He joined the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar series in 2003-04 and was an instant attraction not only for the fans, but also for the selectors. He showed immense control in his bowling in difficult Australian conditions which are normally alien to our players.
The rise of Irfan Pathan
Beginning his career as he seam and swing bowler, he joined the team at the young age of 19 and was soon compared to the Pakistani great Wasim Akram for his performances and prodigious swing. He had the quality to swing the bowl away from the right handers and was deadly in swing conditions abroad. He was impressive in the CB Series played Down Under, providing the vital breakthroughs whenever Sourav Ganguly brought him into the attack. He caused problems to Pakistan when India toured them for ODIs and Tests in 2004.
He had dismissed quality players like Steve Waugh, Andrew Symonds, Ricky Ponting, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and many more with some deadly reserve swinging deliveries. He was lethal with his outswingers as well as with his in-swinging yorkers. No one can forget the delivery he bowled to Adam Gilchrist, an in swinging yorker to get rid of the Australian legend. It became the highlight of the tour for India. He had the ability to swing the ball both ways and was rising to the pinnacle of success rapidly.
Then, in 2006, he became the first player to take a hat-trick in a Test match against Pakistan. With outswingers and in-swingers, the ball was doing all the talking and he made batting really tough for Pakistan. Following his success in Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, he had made himself an integral part of the bowling attack. But destiny had some other plans for him. Just like the other Indian fast bowlers who have always been a victim of injuries, he joined the same league in a few years. After enjoying initial success with the team, the road to success eluded Pathan for years/
The Greg Chappell era
The infamous ‘Chappell era’ has always been a talking point of Indian cricket. It is regarded as the ‘mysterious period’ in Indian cricket. Too much was happening in the team. There was a spat between the then captain, Sourav Ganguly and the coach. Chappell didn’t have the support of the fans as well. He constantly shifted Sachin Tendulkar’s batting position. Players like Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh had expressed their concerns over Chappell’s over-experimenting nature. But, in my opinion, the biggest blunder made by Chappell was experimenting with Irfan Pathan’s career by promoting him to bat up the order.
To experiment at times is good but to try too many things results in chaos. This was the reason India performed horribly in the 9th edition of the World Cup held in West Indies. He was made to open the innings, come at No.3 position at times. Since he succeeded, he became a permanent member of the top order. For some time, he was able to manage both things properly, i.e. bowling and batting. But after some matches, it was noticed that he was losing his pace and consistency. He started becoming expensive in his spells and gradually lost his rhythm.
Former great Javagal Srinath had raised concerns over his form and maintained that his first priority is to bowl and then try his hand in batting. He was playing a lot of matches and this resulted in fatigue and caused his slide from the top. He was steadily declining from his prime and the ball was not moving both ways. His pace dropped, he became a little expensive and was excluded from the team at the back of some poor performances against England, West Indies and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006.
Pathan’s career off late:
Since then, he has been coming ‘in and out’ of the Indian team. Several injuries at the wrong time, inconsistency, expensive spells kept him out of favour. He did manage to make a strong mark in the inaugural edition of the World T20 in 2007. He picked up wickets and was adjudged the man of the match in the final game against Pakistan. He continued to be an inconsistent performer with the ball despite gaining confidence in his batting. He made some worthy contributions down the order and India kept him in the line-up as a result of his valuable runs with the bat.
Whenever there was an option of playing only two frontline bowlers, he was always kept at bay. He made a comeback in 2012 when India toured Sri Lanka for a lone T20 and 5 ODIs. He was the leading wicket taker and was adjudged the man of the match in the one-off T20. His good form was back but injuries still got the better of him. Till date, his comeback trail is on and he is running out of time to feature in the World Cup squad.
Man management is very important in sports or else we may lose talented players at crucial times. Look at Kevin Peterson or instance. Similarly, Pathan had everything in his favour until Chappell’s overenthusiastic nature brought out the worst in him. Sure his batting improved, he won accolades as an all rounder, was compared to the great Kapil Dev, but in the process lost his most important skill and hence, lost his rhythm.
Had someone backed up him at the right time or given him a longer run, his story would have been different. He was confused as to what his role was in the team. Trying to make amends in his batting, he overlooked his bowling. He is regarded as the lost hero because he was a great cricketer in the making in his early days but completely lost the plot sometime after.
We still have to find a medium paced all rounder in the team who can bowl. Everyone knows that Pathan can do much more than this since he possesses immense talent. He needs to curb his injuries and somehow bring back his pace or maintain a steadier line and length. At the age of 30, things are really difficult for him.. Whatever happens, we will never be able to see the ‘Irfan Pathan of 2003-04’. His name may get lost among the shadows of other players in Indian cricket.
Irfan Pathan: A lost opportunity for Indian cricket
We must have heard this several times in cricket that, ‘it is very important for the coaches of every team to look after their players carefully or else they will perish’. It is true in every sense. Not just in cricket, it is a reality in life.
There are people in different fields who try their best to perform according to their fullest potential. Sometimes they succeed and sometimes they don’t. The important part is not that whether they perform or not, if they are talented, they should be motivated, given more opportunities and make them involved or else they will perish. Similar is a case with a ‘lost player’ of the Indian Cricket Team who was once a regular in the playing XI but today has minimum chance to board the flight for Australia and New Zealand in a few months time for the country’s title defence in World Cup 2015. He is none other than, the once regarded ‘blue-eyed boy’ of Team India, Irfan Pathan.
The rise and fall of Pathan has been shocking to see. He joined the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar series in 2003-04 and was an instant attraction not only for the fans, but also for the selectors. He showed immense control in his bowling in difficult Australian conditions which are normally alien to our players.
The rise of Irfan Pathan
Beginning his career as he seam and swing bowler, he joined the team at the young age of 19 and was soon compared to the Pakistani great Wasim Akram for his performances and prodigious swing. He had the quality to swing the bowl away from the right handers and was deadly in swing conditions abroad. He was impressive in the CB Series played Down Under, providing the vital breakthroughs whenever Sourav Ganguly brought him into the attack. He caused problems to Pakistan when India toured them for ODIs and Tests in 2004.
He had dismissed quality players like Steve Waugh, Andrew Symonds, Ricky Ponting, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and many more with some deadly reserve swinging deliveries. He was lethal with his outswingers as well as with his in-swinging yorkers. No one can forget the delivery he bowled to Adam Gilchrist, an in swinging yorker to get rid of the Australian legend. It became the highlight of the tour for India. He had the ability to swing the ball both ways and was rising to the pinnacle of success rapidly.
Then, in 2006, he became the first player to take a hat-trick in a Test match against Pakistan. With outswingers and in-swingers, the ball was doing all the talking and he made batting really tough for Pakistan. Following his success in Australia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, he had made himself an integral part of the bowling attack. But destiny had some other plans for him. Just like the other Indian fast bowlers who have always been a victim of injuries, he joined the same league in a few years. After enjoying initial success with the team, the road to success eluded Pathan for years/
The Greg Chappell era
The infamous ‘Chappell era’ has always been a talking point of Indian cricket. It is regarded as the ‘mysterious period’ in Indian cricket. Too much was happening in the team. There was a spat between the then captain, Sourav Ganguly and the coach. Chappell didn’t have the support of the fans as well. He constantly shifted Sachin Tendulkar’s batting position. Players like Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh had expressed their concerns over Chappell’s over-experimenting nature. But, in my opinion, the biggest blunder made by Chappell was experimenting with Irfan Pathan’s career by promoting him to bat up the order.
To experiment at times is good but to try too many things results in chaos. This was the reason India performed horribly in the 9th edition of the World Cup held in West Indies. He was made to open the innings, come at No.3 position at times. Since he succeeded, he became a permanent member of the top order. For some time, he was able to manage both things properly, i.e. bowling and batting. But after some matches, it was noticed that he was losing his pace and consistency. He started becoming expensive in his spells and gradually lost his rhythm.
Former great Javagal Srinath had raised concerns over his form and maintained that his first priority is to bowl and then try his hand in batting. He was playing a lot of matches and this resulted in fatigue and caused his slide from the top. He was steadily declining from his prime and the ball was not moving both ways. His pace dropped, he became a little expensive and was excluded from the team at the back of some poor performances against England, West Indies and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006.
Pathan’s career off late:
Since then, he has been coming ‘in and out’ of the Indian team. Several injuries at the wrong time, inconsistency, expensive spells kept him out of favour. He did manage to make a strong mark in the inaugural edition of the World T20 in 2007. He picked up wickets and was adjudged the man of the match in the final game against Pakistan. He continued to be an inconsistent performer with the ball despite gaining confidence in his batting. He made some worthy contributions down the order and India kept him in the line-up as a result of his valuable runs with the bat.
Whenever there was an option of playing only two frontline bowlers, he was always kept at bay. He made a comeback in 2012 when India toured Sri Lanka for a lone T20 and 5 ODIs. He was the leading wicket taker and was adjudged the man of the match in the one-off T20. His good form was back but injuries still got the better of him. Till date, his comeback trail is on and he is running out of time to feature in the World Cup squad.
Man management is very important in sports or else we may lose talented players at crucial times. Look at Kevin Peterson or instance. Similarly, Pathan had everything in his favour until Chappell’s overenthusiastic nature brought out the worst in him. Sure his batting improved, he won accolades as an all rounder, was compared to the great Kapil Dev, but in the process lost his most important skill and hence, lost his rhythm.
Had someone backed up him at the right time or given him a longer run, his story would have been different. He was confused as to what his role was in the team. Trying to make amends in his batting, he overlooked his bowling. He is regarded as the lost hero because he was a great cricketer in the making in his early days but completely lost the plot sometime after.
We still have to find a medium paced all rounder in the team who can bowl. Everyone knows that Pathan can do much more than this since he possesses immense talent. He needs to curb his injuries and somehow bring back his pace or maintain a steadier line and length. At the age of 30, things are really difficult for him.. Whatever happens, we will never be able to see the ‘Irfan Pathan of 2003-04’. His name may get lost among the shadows of other players in Indian cricket.
source :- quora.com
