Gentleman of the Gentleman's Game - Gilchrist

On a cool morning in Faridabad ,way back in 1996, a young Australian was given the gloves ahead of the legendary Ian Healy, and made a scratchy 18 with the bat but managed to take two behind the stumps; that marked the entry of a certain character named Adam Craig Gilchrist onto the international circuit. The left hander traversed from his home of New South Wales to Western Australia and earned his place in the Australian squad as it was making strides towards its dominance in cricket.

He was initially a lower order batsman in ODIs and was soon promoted to open the innings. It was here that he marked his name as a batsman with his unflinching style of hitting. He formed a formidable pair with Mark Waugh at the top of the order for the Australians under Steve Waugh in the late 1990s. He had a strong technique and an uncanny ability to hit the ball way out of the park. His strength complimented his destructive batting.

If his batting was good, his keeping just as good. He rarely missed the ball going past him and his wicket-keeping was crucial in the Waugh and Ponting era, when the men from Down Under ruled the cricketing circuit. Despite showing his brilliance in the shorter format with the bat as well as the gloves, Gilchrist had to wait for 3 years until he got his baggy green against Pakistan in December 1999.

He had to replace Ian Healy who was by then the record holder for most dismissals in Test cricket. He proved to be a worthy successor as he himself held that record before Boucher took over it. At Brisbane, before a crowd that savored Healy, he made a mark with a brilliant 81 and 5 dismissals on debut. Soon after, came the Hobart innings when he showed glimpses of what is in store for the world. Coming down at No. 7, he made a marauding 169 to bail the side out of trouble. Since then, the opponents always had to worry despite getting 5 wickets of the great Australian line-up.

The stability and ability he brought to the Kangaroos side was beyond words. They were blessed with some great batsmen and bowlers. He filled the gap of being the finest wicket keeper batsman of all times. Five down for a partly score, never worry. Gilly walks down to break the rhythm of the opposition and take the score to safety. Attack was his weapon but he bailed the side to safety more often than not.

With the gloves, his precision and balance was beyond comparison. He was impeccable with his stands and had a wonderful eye. Warne and McGrath became lethal with the advent of Gilly behind the stumps and his addition finally transformed the Australian side to total dominance. No wonder his debut coincided with their first run of 16 consecutive wins.

Soon enough, he formed a potent pair with Hayden in ODIs and then there was menace all around for the bowlers. They found no respite with both the south paws being unpardonable. His start in 2003 World Cup final against India killed the game for the Indian side. The next final was far better when he shattered the Sri Lankan attack for a destructive 149 to set up a hat-trick of wins.

He may not have been lucky with the captaincy since the Australians chose batsmen to be the candidates. But whenever he had the chance, he made his mark and made his presence felt. Ponting had taken over from Steve Waugh despite Gilly being the deputy, but found himself injured for the tour of India in 2004. Gilly leading a strong side achieved what his full time captains could not do – he led the Australians to conquer the “Final Frontier” as Waugh used to describe it as; Gilly led the side to beat India in India which neither Waugh nor Ponting could do.

Not just his game, but his character was laudable too. He was among the real gentlemen to play in the recent decades. Not many batsmen “walk” when they know they are out but Gilchrist set a standard by being a regular “walker” whenever he felt he was out. That brought him so many admirers across the globe. Though he is involved in constant chatter, seldom does he get himself into trouble. Probably he was a guy who knew the line better than his teammates.

Since he won his third World Cup in 2007, he longed for calling it a day. In 2007-08 tour of India, Gilchrist retired from all forms of international cricket, winning the hearts of fans and foes alike. Later he came to the Indian Premier League, entertaining the fans for five seasons. In the second season, he led the Deccan Chargers to a title win. This was with a team that was the “wooden spooner” in the first season. His final two seasons was for the Kings XI Punjab; he tried to bring out the best in them.

His refusal to run the third run when the fielder was injured in a match at Dharmasala recently embarks the depiction of this guy. He was a real gentleman to grace the field. His announcement to retire from competitive cricket altogether gets us nostalgic. Seldom were we denied of joy and entertainment when he was on the field. Salute to the legend! He may not miss cricket much (as he said himself) but the game of Cricket will miss him a lot!