Every cricketer dreams of performing exceptionally well on the cricket field. Every time a cricketer walks in to bat, he represents his country, state, or franchise and tries to give the best of his capabilities. However, there have been a few instances when the cricketers have achieved the special feat on their birthdays and gifted their fans and themselves a perfect gift on their special days.
Here, we bring you a list of 5 cricketers who celebrated their birthdays in style by playing memorable knocks. Have a look:
1. Sachin Tendulkar:
Sachin Tendulkar, who is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to have ever played this game, celebrated his 25th birthday in a grand manner. Sachin Tendulkar played one of the best ODI innings on his 25th birthday.
Well, it was a few days before his 25th birthday, when he took India to the final of a tri-nation tournament in Sharjah single-handedly by scoring an impressive 143 runs against Australia. The day of final happened on his 25th birthday, the whole world witnessed special innings by Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin Tendulkar once again dominated the match from the word go. Sachin Tendulkar took all the bowlers including the likes of Damien Fleming, Michael Kasprowicz, Shane Warne, and Tom Moody. The ‘master-blaster’ scored 134 runs off 131 balls including 12 boundaries and 3 sixes. With this special knock, Sachin single-handedly led team India to victory in that tournament.
2. Peter Siddle:
Peter Siddle is the first and the only cricketer in history to have bagged a hat-trick on his birthday. This happened during the first Test of the 2010 Ashes series at the Gaba in Brisbane when Peter Siddle made the first day a memorable one.
During the 65th over of the innings, Peter Siddle dismissed Alastair Cook on his third ball, then clean bowled Matt Prior on the fourth ball and then finally had Stuart Broad trapped leg on the fifth ball to complete his hat-trick. Although the test match ended in a draw, however, the match is still remembered for Peter’s hat-trick.
3. Yuvraj Singh:
India’s swashbuckling batsman, Yuvraj Singh celebrated his 28th birthday with a bang. It happened during a T20 match played in Mohali on 12th December 2009, where Yuvraj Singh played a match-winning knock against a visiting Sri Lankan team on his 28th birthday.
With the ball, Yuvraj Singh picked up 3 wickets for 23 runs in 3 overs he bowled. Later while chasing the target of 207 runs, Yuvraj Singh smashed an unbeaten 60 runs off just 25 balls, including 3 boundaries and 5 sixes. With this knock, Yuvraj Singh gave a perfect birthday gift to himself, and to himself as team India celebrated a memorable victory.
4. Jason Gillispie:
Jason Gillespie, the former Australian fast bowler, had an exceptional 31st birthday as he gave the best ever performance of his Test career.
It happened in the year 2006 Test match against Bangladesh in Chattogram. During the match, he scored the only double hundred of his Test career. He scored an unbeaten 201 off 425 balls and etched his name in the record books.
5. Ross Taylor:
During the 2011 World Cup, Ross Taylor played an amazing inning on his 27th birthday. In a match against Pakistan in Kandy, Ross Taylor remained unbeaten on 131 runs off 124 balls and helped his team post an impressive total of 302 runs.
