In cricket or any team sport for that matter you’re as good a player as you’re a team man. Every successful cricketer has first been a selfless team player and has then played for himself or records. As Shahrukh Khan says in Chak De India that in a team sport the nation comes first, then your team and then if there’s anything left then for your own self.
Cricket has always been about the team and not individuals and it will always remain that way. Hence a cricketer would always be looked from the purview of selflessness for his team and not for his individual impact in the team. In cricket there have been preciously selfless innings by cricketers and at the same time there have also been some ugly acts of selfishness.
Today we bring you the 5 most selfless cricketing instances of all times which prove that why you must first be a team player and then play for your own self. Here’s the tally of acts of selflessness in cricket.
1. Gambhir giving away his Man of The Match to Kohli
Gautam Gambhir and Kohli in recent times have been shown as being little enemies of each other. Thanks to the ugly fight they had during an IPL match but it’s wasn’t always like that. This act of selflessness by Gambhir hails back to 2009. When India was playing Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens and India was to chase 315 runs which obviously wasn’t easy.
In such a situation Gambhir and Kohli put together an unbelievable partnership of 224 runs for the third wicket. India won the match and Gambhir stayed unbeaten on 150 while Kohli got out after hitting a century but in when Gambhir was adjudged the Man of Match he called upon Kohli and passed on the reward to Kohli. Seeing this cordiality between them the IPL controversy is something both of them would condemn.
2. Mark Taylor’s spending act of not going past Sri Don Bradman
It was 1998 and Australia was playing Pakistan. On the second day of the test the Aussie skipper, Mark Taylor was on 334 and had equalled Don Bradman’s record of 334. Guess what? Mark Taylor chose not to go past Sir Don Bradman and rather chose to declare being the captain.
He said that he wanted to be remain by Don Bradman’s side in the record books and hence he made the ultimate sacrifice of not overpowering the record Bradman had set. This is one of the most beautiful stories of selflessness in cricket and shall always be. The then highest score in Tests was 375 by the great Brian Lara.
3. Uthappa letting Rohit Sharma hit 264
Who can ever forget Hitman’s splendid innings of 264! Who does that in an ODI? That’s as big as an entire team’s score many a times. But credit for this great innings that scripted history also goes to Robin Uthappa. Robbie came out to bat in the 41st over when India was 276/4 and Rohit was going great playing on 155.
Uthappa made sure that Rohit makes it big and Rohit rather made it humongous! Out of about 58 balls left in the innings Uthappa only played 16 and made sure that Rohit gets the maximum strike to recreate history. One must note that Robin Uthappa was under immense pressure to cement his place in the team but he put his team first and by the end of 50 overs India was 404/4. This shows how great a team man Robin Uthappa is.
4. Javagal Shreenath’s sacrifice for Anil Kumble Kumble’s ten wicket haul against Pakistan at Kotla in 1999 is something that would always stay alive in the history of Indian cricket. It’s one of the greatest achievements of Indian cricket and something to cherish forever.
But what made this milestone possible was not just Kumble’s fine spell but also Javagal Srinath’s sacrifice. Kumble has already scalped 9 wickets when Srinath came to bowl the 60th over. Javagal Shrinath made sure that he doesn’t even try for a wicket and leave the 10th wicket for Kumble.
He bowled in a manner that could never claim a wicket and he did it on purpose to help Kumble reach the milestone. Then in the 61st over Anil Kumble pocked up his 10th wicket in the innings and scripted history.
5. Richard Hadlee’s ultimate sacrifice
The first bowler ever to pick up 10 wickets in an innings was England’s Laker who achieved the feat in 1965 against Australia. Then the second name to the added to list was that of Anil Kumble in 1999. But between this gap of 34 years there was another opportunity for achieving this great milestone and this cake in 1985.
Richard Hadlee was bowling the spell of his life and had rattled the Aussie line up by picking up 8 wickets. But he put his team before himself and let the milestone that was well in sight, go away. He gave the opportunity of picking up the ninth wicket to his teammate Vaughan Brown.
The batsman hit a shot and Richard Hadlee had to run backwards to catch the bowl but Richard Hadlee was all selfless and he caught the catch even though the milestone slipped from his hands. He then picked the final wicket and finished the innings for Australia.
