10 less gifted cricketers who became legends

9. Graham Gooch

Graham Gooch

Much like the boy wonder Alastair Cook whom he mentored at a much later stage, Graham Gooch was about discipline, patience and piling on the runs. While Cook, noticed very early for his run-scoring capacity rather than the elegance of his batting, recently overtook him to become the first English batsman to 9000 runs, Gooch deserves praise for staying on top of the run-scoring ladder for a very long time.

With 8900 runs in Test cricket, most of which came in difficult situations, Gooch did what was needed to get the job done, a reason why he is so highly respected in spite of his esoteric nature.

His employment of the sweep shot to tackle the Indian spinners in the 1987 World Cup semi-final, when Gooch produced a masterful century to overcome the Indians on home soil, is a classic example of how he found a way to survive and score runs, and big runs at that.

Stockily built and armed with a big bat, Gooch was an antithesis to David Gower, more Hercules with a club to smash whatever was in his zone. Had he not lost some good years to rebellion, he was sure to reach 10000 Test runs, something his protégé will surely do in the next couple of years at most.

10. Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith

Graeme Smith’s relatively early retirement showed he was not a man interested in numbers, having finished on 9265 runs, the second most for a South African batsman. No prizes for guessing who is No.1!

Smith looked ungainly, ugly at times. He had the whip off the pads even to balls that pitched outside off-stump. He had the off-drive without any elaborate feet movement. But beyond that, there was nothing eye-catching about Smith’s batting.

Yet, he racked up tough double hundreds in England and was known for runs in the fourth innings when batting was at its toughest. Smith was all steel and it was under him that South Africa found its full potential, home and away, becoming along with India the only team to challenge Australia in Australia during their peak. They even went a step ahead by winning a Test series Down Under in 2008/09 and as expected, Smith’s contribution with the bat proved to be as crucial as his astute captaincy skills.