Gilchrist, a gifted cricketer 

-- Harsha Bhogle

Some cricketers are admired, some others liked. Often in sport, those two qualities seem to represent enemy camps and very few manage to have a foot in each of them. You don't have to, and indeed players who aspire to be liked, rather than admired, have often been looked down upon. Steve Waugh, for example, clearly couldn't care whether you wanted to like him. He is a widely admired man but is so devoted to the job of winning that I suspect, he wouldn't mind being unpopular if it came to that. 

I spent three days watching India play Australia in Mumbai, and wouldn't I have given anything to have spent five, and I think I now know a man who happily straddles both camps. Adam Gilchrist played with the aggression that has become a hallmark of this Australian side and at the end of the match, he displayed the humility that makes watching him such a joy. It is an unmatched combination, aggression and humility, and Gilchrist has it. He will become a bigger star than he is now and I suspect he will also become a widely loved man. 

His innings of 122 is already a modern classic; an innings straight out of the Viv Richards-Sachin Tendulkar school of achievement. I don't think I will ever forget it for the sheer brilliance of his strokeplay but even more than that for the amazing self-confidence he showed. Often you need to know how good you are for it is only when you are prepared to back yourself that the doors to genuine achievement open up. Gilchrist knew what he was capable of and if that meant taking a punt on his own ability, he was willing to do it. It is a state of mind you want to aspire to reach. 

I think we have been fortunate to see a huge step in the development of an extraordinarily gifted cricketer. To replace Ian Healy is the equivalent of replacing Greg Chappell or Dennis Lillee and yet, with a wicket-keeper there is a one-to-one comparison. You are not part of a group of batsmen or bowlers, you stand alone. It was a daunting job, maybe even the most difficult in the game. But he has been a good replacement and some of his catches (can you forget the time he gave the gulls in Adelaide a complex by
soaring to his right to catch Ganguly?) have come out of the very highest class. Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill haven't complained too much either. 

But it is as a batsman that he is seriously redefining the game. I have little doubt in my mind that he is the best all-rounder in the game today; that he would have held his own even in the early eighties when the game was graced by some truly great all-round
cricketers. It is important to make that comparison for all-rounders today are as rare as peace in Afghanistan and to be the best in the world in that category today will not confer on him the weight the title should deserve. For Gilchrist is a batsman and a
wicket-keeper and even by the classical definition of all-rounders (where you need to be good enough to win a place on either count), he stands comfortably. No one else does that in modern cricket. Chris Cairns might if he had a bit of help from his body. 

His style is direct, uncomplicated and all his own. Like the truly great players, he makes the game look easy. He bludgeons rather than caresses the ball, he wields a machete rather than a wand and I suspect being a surgeon didn't cross his mind too often. He
has a shot to most balls which puts him in a very small community and with a wonderfully quick eye, he
often plays it. Cricket writers often assign undue importance to finesse, it allows us to pick pretty words, but Gilchrist would much rather put bat to ball effectively rather than prettily. Let me clarify lestI give the impression that he is crude or ungainly.
No. I think he could be what he wanted and that he merely prefers to get on with things. He is not a designer but that is probably because he doesn't want to be one. 

I enjoy watching Adam Gilchrist because to me, he stands for freedom. I can close my eyes and imagine him driving freely through the vast openness of his beautiful country. And much as I enjoy seeing him play I was touched by his gesture of humility at the end of
the match. It tells you something about people when they do that. For as soon as the game was over, Gilchrist ran across to a group of Australian supporters to thank them for their support. It is a little thing to do but it tells you that amidst the
huge mental preoccupation of winning an important cricket match, there was a little space put aside for the people who make the game. 

It is something that Australian cricket always seems to have time for. I was amazed, and delighted, for example that Steve Waugh asked Luke Gillian, a diehard Aussie supporter, to write the prelude to his Captains Diary. When you can combine aggression with humility, you become a well-rounded person and in the hands of Adam Gilchrist Australia will be well-served in the years to come. 

I would give anything to watch India beat Australia in a Test match but I must admit it was a privilege to watch Adam Gilchrist play cricket in Mumbai.

Thanks Smitha for this one!