Everyone likes a good comeback. Who doesn’t like to see a star return with renewed passion and prove he still has the ability to mix it with the best at the top level?
Many of us love Sylvester Stallone’s ‘Rocky’ series but in real life, however, some things simply can’t be achieved after a certain point.
Take the example of Harbhajan Singh. The ‘Turbanator’ was selected for the one-off Bangladesh Test match in June and subsequent tour of Zimbabwe. The 35-year-old was thought to have regained some of his lost touch during this year’s IPL and picked to bolster an Indian team that had one good spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin and nothing else. How wrong the selectors were proven.
In the first Test against Sri Lanka at Galle, Harbhajan was simply poor, there is no other way to put it. On a wicket that had so much for the slow bowlers, Bhajji was disconcertingly easy to handle. Gone are the loop, revolutions on the ball, dip and turn. His line of attack is more in line with the stumps now, which is a classic sign of an off-spinner looking to restrict rather than attack. His batting is nothing to write home about either.
Picked in the side as a bowler who can contribute with the bat, the general lack of confidence in his bowling was evident when he batted in the first Test. This was not the Harbhajan who scored back-to-back Test centuries against New Zealand. But as he found out, comebacks don’t always go to plan. There are many who have gone down that path and failed.
Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal is the perfect example. His action was reported last year and the Pakistan spinner tried to make a comeback with a remodelled action. And let’s just say, he was a shadow of his former self. He was taken apart by Bangladesh batsmen in the limited over series in April, going wicketless in a T20 game and ripped apart in two ODIs. The Pakistan tormentor has now sunk without a trace.
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Then there is the case of India left-arm quick Zaheer Khan. Long targeted for his poor fitness record, Zaheer went to France to get back in shape in 2013. The Mumbai quick, then 34, was drafted in the Test side for the tours of South Africa and New Zealand. But in four Test matches, it became clear Zaheer was not the same. He lost the zip in his bowling and even though he was leaner, the swing and pace had all but disappeared.
Even South African captain Graeme Smith, Zaheer’s ‘bunny’ in international cricket, found him easy to handle. The left-arm pacer was not selected for this year’s World Cup and his is now consigned to the history books for all purposes. Zaheer is not alone in the wilderness.
England batsman Jonathan Trott left the scene and came back, albeit for extraordinary reasons. The top order batsman left the Ashes Down Under in 2013 after the first Test citing a stress related illness. It was seen as a psychological issue which many felt Trott couldn’t come out of in time and play international cricket again.
But the Warwickshire batsman went back to domestic cricket and started churning out the runs. He started to make the right kind of noise, and stated his intent of making a comeback.
Trott was given a chance as an opener in the three-Test series in the West Indies in April-May but he could only manage 72 runs, including three ducks. The South Africa-born batsman immediately announced his retirement from international cricket but it had become apparent even before the third Test that Trott’s best days were behind him.
Not everyone is blessed with the ability to know when to stop. If these players had it, we could have avoided the pain of their futile rigours. Magical Galle Sri Lankan spin great Muttiah Muralitharan played his last Test against India at Galle. He started that 2010 Test eight wickets short of 800 Test scalps. And by the time the last day’s play started, he needed two more. Muralitharan managed to take the last wicket to fall, which turned out to be his 800th, and sealed a memorable win in his farewell match.
Five years later, Kumar Sangakkara is bowing out of international cricket with India as his opponents. In the first Test at Galle, India held the upper hand for the better part of the match before the host scripted one of the great turnarounds to go from almost losing by an innings to winning by 63 runs. Sangakkara scored a crucial 40 runs in the second innings and helped sparked the revival.
Galle is indeed a special venue for Sri Lanka, not only for its breathtaking beauty but for some truly special results that it has witnessed. It’s the same venue where Australian Shane Warne became only the second bowler in history to take 500 Test match wickets in 2004. Some places are just magical.
