The land down under has produced athletes of thunder (Part 2)
Believe it or not, he did play in the final and with a tie in the last seven seconds of the game, he involved himself in a play that became part of rugby history. This was when his last second pass assisted the Knights to snatch the winning point, only to
give them their first Premiership Cup.
Here on in, time after time, he made records and won awards, bringing glory to his home land and his fans. He led his team to several other titles. In his personal achievements he was named , The National Rugby League Player of the Year on three occasions,
Most Wanted Player for five separate years and the winner of the Golden Boot a couple of times, which meant he was the best player in all leagues and in all forms of the games. His importance was such that when he retired due to a life threatening injury,
his team went from number one to almost the last spot in the division. Such was the influence and admirable impression he had.
Next on the list of Aussie stars is none other than the absolutely electric former Australian wicket keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist. He was often called Gilly. The man made his first One day International appearance in the mid ninety’s. The dynamic all rounder
is the man that the legend Wasim Akram could not even control. According to Wasim, Gilly was the toughest batsman he ever had to bowl at.
Akram had bowled to some of the finest batsmen the cricketing world had ever seen. Batsmen such as Viv Richards, Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Michael Bevan and the list can go on forever. The point is that Wasim Akram was a one of a kind bowler who had
bowled at various and numerous legends of the game. Despite such an admirable resume in cricket, according to Wasim Akram, he was most uncomfortable when bowling to Adam Gilchrist. Such was the calibre of the Australian opening batsmen.
Gilchrist was not like many athletes and players who had the flair and natural brilliance to get noticed from the very beginning of their career. He had to work immensely hard to achieve greatness, international respect and recognition. It took time for
him to prove his actual potential. He was not blessed with instant fame.
He began on a path which could have gone towards success or failure, which entirely depended on his level of commitment to the game. He had lots of ups and downs when he first began. He only got a chance to play because the usual regular wicket keeper for
the Aussies, Ian Healy had suffered an injury.
Slowly but surely, he began proving himself and the true magnitude of talent that he possessed. Gilchrist gradually began entertaining cricketing junkies around the globe and especially in his home country. For the first two or three years of his vocation,
he only played ODI cricket. Soon enough, within two to three years, the Australian Cricketing Body realized that he was also ready to play the longer format of the game and made his Test debut just before the Millennium against none other than Pakistan.
In his first Test season, he was scoring consistently at an average of well above fifty. This was the time when the 1999 Cricket World Cup had just begun. He was a part of the winning squad and team throughout the grand tournament and was part of Australia’s
great victory over Pakistan to raise the World Cup. Pakistan was thrashed in the final by Australia who took the title with utmost ease, showcasing admirable skills.
Similarly, he was also part of the 2003 winning group that beat India by a humiliating margin of a hundred and thirty runs in the World Cup final in South Africa. It was in this World Cup that Gilchrist was awarded as the number one wicket keeper for the
entire event.
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