June 2, 2016
It was 1996 World Cup
season, the time I started following cricket seriously. By then I thought Steve Waugh is just another Australian middle
order Batsman scoring few runs and who can bowl his military medium
occasionally !!
Then I started observing
him closely when he was in India for the Titan Cup series. I wasn't aware of
his solid batting technique then but was
surprised seeing his bowling where he got Sachin out in
one of the league matches !! Throughout the series he was batting in the middle overs along
with Slater, Bevan & Law and one thing I noticed was his ability to play
spin bowling in sub-continent pitches.
Then came the famous
1998 Australia's tour of India and it was the time Cricket Australia
gave the world a completely new idea of having two completely different
teams, one for the longer format and other for the ODI's. The tour started with
Test series which was led by Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh was set to lead their
limited overs side which followed the test series. The series had
huge hype for the battle between Sachin Vs Warne so not too many would have
noticed the way Steve Waugh played Anil Kumble. For me among players outside
Asia, Steve Waugh is second best in playing Anil Kumble following Andy Flower.
The literal meaning of slog sweep I understood watching Steve Waugh playing
those. Of course, slog sweep - hitting the ball exactly over deep mid-wicket isn't
a big deal these days with advent of T20's but 20 years back it wasn't played
well by many. Taking left foot outside the leg stump and slogging over mid-wicket/wide
long on would be a treat to watch for me those days.
Needless to say, to know
the potential of any English/Aussie player one has to watch the Ashes. One
thing I noticed in him was, unlike his twin brother Mark he didn't had good hook/pull
in his batting book. He had that limitation but never he gave up; he stood
still and he won the battle on numerous occasions by sheer patience
and even getting blows on his body. I was stunned to see highlights of 1 of his
match where there was a battle between Curtly Ambrose and Waugh, trust me it
was deadly !! He stood alone scoring 63 in that match when the entire team got
bundled out for a mere 128. Facing the mighty Ambrose at Trinidad isn't an ordinary thing
and during their words exchange The Caribbean quickie has said ‘Man,
I will knock you out – here and now. I don’t care if I have no career left’. Boyy!! The Voice of West Indies cricket Tony Cozier said during that over that this over is going to be discussed for many years to follow and even after 21 years we are discussing about it.
His several match winning
performance at Test level increased his confidence in his ODI's making him a
consistent limited overs batsman. His crucial century against RSA in league during 1999
World cup was one of the major reason which Australia went to finals not too
many know !! Reason being the semifinals between those 2 teams ended up in a tie after the famous Donald -
Klusener run out. So the win in the league match secured a place in 1999 World cup final for the Aussies and S.Waugh was the Man of the Match for his century. It was only his second ODI century then out of his 3 ODI
centuries but the timing of that innings proved him as one of the best big
match players.
And not too many of this
generation would know his ability with ball; he is an excellent medium pacebowler with close to 200 ODI wickets and has the ability to break partnership
at crucial times. As far as I know he is the first bowler to bowl slow
deliveries from back of his hand !! He has delivered with ball on numerous
occasions and one such instance is helping Australia win against the West
Indies getting the wicket of Brian Lara. West Indies were cursing along at 93/1
chasing a mere target of 208 and by then Waugh produced an absolute beauty squaring
up Lara and cleaning his stumps.
By Jan 2004 Waugh played
his last test with his baggy green on and that was a hard fought match;
eventually he saved the series for his country battling for more than 150
deliveries before he got out to Kumble caught by Sachin in deep mid-wicket
region scoring 80. That was the last time we saw him bat with his red cloth in
his pocket !!
He is so kind by his heart
and does lot of good deeds helping for
the rehabilitation of children affected by leprosy. He is inspired by Mother
Teresa and has helped many poor people at Kolkatta.
Mr. Waugh - You remain a
Champion for us always !! Happy Birthday again !!
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