One of the absolute greats of the game, no doubt about it. A true champion and a humble man. I stand and applaud a great crickter and a great adversary, watching you sir, was indeed a rare honour.
Re: This is cricket | Sanath Jayasuriya
What a testament he is to all Cricketers, still going strong @ 39.
Re: This is cricket | Sanath Jayasuriya
^ Imran Khan was going strong @ 41, lets see if he can beat that.
Re: This is cricket | Sanath Jayasuriya
^ He probably will as he'll retire after the World Cup 2011. Hence his decision to retire from Test Cricket so he could concentrate fully on limited overs Cricket.
^ Imran Khan was going strong @ 41, lets see if he can beat that.
Actually Imran Khan retired at 39.
He was born on November 25th, 1952 and got retired on the final day of the 1992 world cup i.e March 25th 1992.
And so he was 39 years old at the time of his retirement.
Re: This is cricket | Sanath Jayasuriya
About Imran Khan, the amazing thing is that he bowled at his peak (pace, swing, long run-ups, large number of overs per innings) when he was already 30. This was the 1982-83 test series against India where Imran took 40 wickets. He also increased his batting portfolio by several orders of magnitude around the same time.
Until 1987-88 test series in WI, where Imran was still causing all sorts of destruction at the age of 35, you never felt that age was catching up to him.
Compare this to Shoaib Akhtar or even Waqar Younis, where the 30 year old barrier hit these players almost like a brick.
One thing could be that the test/ODI tours in those times were scheduled with lots of spare days. The test match itself used to have a rest day. Then there were several 3-day matches in almost any tour. I also don't remember too many subcontinent matches in months of April and May, where as now you get an entire three test, 5 ODI series played out within five weeks in April/May timeframe (40C temperature in most of Pakistan) The 82-83 test series tour (India in Pakistan) took four months to wind up and it had 6 test matches and I think three ODIs. So the workload was a bit different.
Imran could also have his date of birth right, whereas SA and WY hid an year or two. But still, Imran's feats especially as an allrounder at the age of 30+ for so many years, are incredible.
About Imran Khan, the amazing thing is that he bowled at his peak (pace, swing, long run-ups, large number of overs per innings) when he was already 30. This was the 1982-83 test series against India where Imran took 40 wickets. He also increased his batting portfolio by several orders of magnitude around the same time.
Until 1987-88 test series in WI, where Imran was still causing all sorts of destruction at the age of 35, you never felt that age was catching up to him.
Compare this to Shoaib Akhtar or even Waqar Younis, where the 30 year old barrier hit these players almost like a brick.
Yep that's because these cricketers play a lot more cricket as compared to Imran Khan's younger days of 1970's(when even the ODI's didn't start in full swing). That's why they are getting burnt early.
^ Imran Khan was going strong @ 41, lets see if he can beat that.
In 1987, Imran decided to retire from cricket. Javed Miandad took his place. Because Pakistan's best captain was gone; the team was in somewhat of crisis .President of Pakistan Zia ul Haq asked him Personally to come back, therefore he was back as a captain in 1988. In later interviews he mentioned that personally his passion for the game was no more in 1987, he was already recognized around the globe.
He played his last 5 years just for Cancer hospital. Imran is a legend.....
but this thread is about Sanath Jayasuria.....so pls focus on that :)