Today is a happy sad day. One of the better cricketers, and THE best wicket-keeper batsman cricket has ever seen, retired from the Indian Premier League today. It was sad enough having seen him retire from the Australian team, but back then somewhere the Indian inside me was thankful. And then for the past 6 years, he’s been an incredible influence in the IPL. He was the only reason I supported Deccan Chargers initially and the only reason I started supporting Kings XI Punjab after that. He was a source of inspiration, a leader for countless young cricketers – upcoming and established, Indian and foreign.
He ended his international T20 career against India.
He ended his international ODI career against India.
He ended his international Test career against India.
And now he finally ended his cricketing career in India.
Today was a sad day because the legend Adam Gilchrist finally called it quits. Today was a happy day because of the way he did. He finally showed us what he was so popular for, his style of playing in his second to last game. And in his final game, today, he got out early. As a fan, I was terribly disappointed. But how fast did my disappointment disappear towards the end of the game. The opposing team required 51 runs to win off the last over and Praveen Kumar was going to bowl, or at least that is what everyone thought. And Praveen Kumar and Adam Gilchrist got their ends mixed up. Praveen Kumar was padded up with wicket-keeping gloves and Adam Gilchrist had the ball in his hand. I LOVED IT! It was a wow moment. And the first ball he bowled, Harbhajan Singh skied the ball. I was up on my feet screaming, “PLEASE LET IT BE OUT, PLEASE LET IT BE OUT!” and it was caught out just before the boundary line. The fielder was laughing, the batsman had a smile on his face and Adam Gilchrist decided to give the celebration his all. He mimicked the most popular celebration styles of the player. We got to see a Oppa Gilchrist Style, a Keiron Pollard – Gilchrist celebration, and a lap of victory.
Thank you Adam Gilchrist for ending your career on such a high. Thank you for always entertaining us with your batting. Thank you for being an inspiration to upcoming cricketers and to cricketing fans. Thank you for this last gift.
With a lot of love, respect, admiration, awe and after today – laughs, I hope that we do see you in the future IPL as a coach or some support staff. Best wishes for life, from an ardent fan.
– Kunal Jhaveri
Zindagi Ka Safar 