Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, the greatest all-rounder the world of cricket has seen passed away at his Barbados home. He was 89 and just shy of 10 days of his 90th birthday.
Be it on the cricket field or away from it, Sobers always lived for the day. He never cared for records and the ones he had set stood for years.
His middle name was versatility. It did. It matter whether he was batting or bowling or fielding, the crowd and cameras were focussed on him. And so was the attention of the other side which was more often than not at the receiving end of his cricketing prowess.
Small wonder, he was a icon to his countrymen. Cricket West Indies announced his passing in a simple line “A great innings has come to an end. In our hearts, now and forever, Sir Garfield Sobers.”
The day is being observed as a national mourning in Barbados. The flags are hanging at half-mast.
A state funeral will follow. Meanwhile, the men, no mean cricketers themselves who had played against him paid their tribute to the great cricketer who had a never ending love affair with life and the game which is synonymous with him.
Be it Sunil Gavaskar whose catch Sobers dropped during the former’s debut Test in West Indies or Ian Chappell who led the Australian side against the World 11 led by Sobers were effusive in his praise. The reason is not far to see.
Sobers could do it all. It did not matter whether he was batting, getting ready for his run-up before bowling a fast or slow almost unplayable delivery or fielding close to a batsman, the memory of graceful performance were always close to the hearts of his opponents and the members of his own team.
Richie Benaud, former Australian captain and revered broadcaster, described Sobers as the greatest all-round cricketer that the world has seen.
Decades after he had retired, a car in which he was travelling with a scribe in Kolkata to see a cricket match at Eden Gardens was flagged. It did not have an appropriate sticker.
Sobers had played two . memorable Test matches at this venue. As he rolled down the window, recognition swiftly dawned on the man in uniform and he escorted the vehicle of the great player right upto the stadium gate.
The first to hit six sixes in an over while playing for Nottighamshire, records were not of much value to Sobers. It was just one of the many firsts in his illustrious career of 93 tests of which he led his country on 39 occasions between 1954 and 1974.
Sobers had had many famous victories which had snatched from the jaws of defeat. But his reverses are also admired.
In 1968, as the captain of West Indies, he set England to a 215 run chase in st Port of Spain Test. West Indies lost by seven wickets causing an uproar in the Caribbean.
Pat came his explanation that he wanted to enliven the series as the first three
Test matches had been drawn. The spirit of adventure and his weakness for taking a flutter perhaps induced him to declare with the canny captain knowing at the back of his mind that his opponents were slow scorers.
Sobers had come up the hard way, losing his father at the age of five. He caught the eye playing club cricket before turning out for Barbados Police.
He made first class debut against India. His Test debut came at 17 in 1954 against Len Hutton’s England at Sabina Park, Jamaica.
This venue was witness to his maiden Test century where he scored 365 against Pakistan. It set his place in history as the record for highest Individual score stood for 36 years.
Brian Lara broke it scoring 375 against England in 1994 at Antigua. Sobers was at the ground to congratulate him.
The left handed batsman scored 8,032 runs in Test cricket. He took 235 wickets in the same genre of the game.
Knighted by Queen Elizabeth 11 in 1975 for his services to cricket, Sobers was awarded the status of a national hero in 1998 in Barbados. Two years later, be was named among the five cricketers of the 20th Century, second only to Sir Donald Bradman
He sits number one among all-rounders in the International Cricket Council’ s historical ratings. Indeed, he was “the top of the pops”.
In every game, there are great players and champions. But Sobers was among the rare individuals who defined the memory of greatness in a game where memory of a great performance vanishes as soon as the match is over.
The memory of his performances remained fresh long after he hung up.his gloves and boots. That is why he is looked upto in Barbados having inspired West Indies and drawing admiration in every corner of the cricketing world.
Garfield Sobers is no more; he walked up to play his final match with an arrogant stride with his collar turned up. This was always the way led his country from one sporting success to another.
