Finally, cricket is the winner

For a man who always played to win, Ricky Ponting’s last hurrah is at best forgotten. Australia got the thrashing of its life against South Africa at Perth and Ponting had little to show with scores of 4 and 8. A tepid end to a fabulous career but then cricket has always been the great leveller.

And there is no better example to drive home this point than the incomparable Don Bradman whose last innings in Test cricket ended in a duck. He just needed a boundary to reach 7,000 runs but fate had other plans. Yet, unlike Ponting, Bradman was part of the victorious side as Australia thumped England by an innings in this 1948 Test.

Another great, Gary Sobers, also ended his Test career on the losing side when the West Indies went down to England in 1974. For someone who brought so much joy to the game be it in batting, bowling or fielding, a win would have been the perfect send-off. Yet, Sobers was bowled for 20 and the curtains came down on an incredible era of cricket.

Clive Lloyd’s pace battery ruthlessly steamrolled opposition in the ‘80s as the West Indies ruled the roost for over a decade. Yet, the skipper’s last Test outing saw his team succumb to spin and lose by an innings against Australia. Lloyd, however, was among the runs with 33 and 72 but the loss in the 1985 test was a complete surprise even though the Windies won the series 3-1.

Sunil Gavaskar’s last Test innings in 1987 is unlikely to be forgotten for many, many years. On a treacherous wicket in Bangalore, the little master stood up to top-class spin bowling against Pakistan to score a memorable 96. It was an innings of the highest class and so long as he was around, India had a chance in the game.

Like Ponting, Sobers and Lloyd, Gavaskar ended up on the losing side in his last game. He made his retirement official only some months later after scoring 188 for the World XI against MCC at Lord’s. It was the perfect end to a glorious career which began with a bang against the West Indies in 1971. There is no question that Gavaskar played a big role in establishing Indian cricket as a respectable force to reckon with in the global arena.

By the end of the day, it is best left to the individual concerned when he wants to step down. Ponting made no bones about the fact that he had not been in the best form lately and, therefore, thought it best to quit. Rahul Dravid decided to bid adieu when nothing seemed to go right in Australia even though he had cracked three tons just some months earlier in England.

Timing one’s exit is never the easiest of tasks especially when an individual believes he still has so much to offer. There are a number of top brains in Indian companies who end up retiring (thanks to the age clause) just when their skills are peaking and at an all-time high.

Let Sachin Tendulkar, therefore, decide when he wants to call it a day. Surely he is entitled to this right even though he has not been getting the runs lately.

>murali.gopalan@thehindu.co.in

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