Exit of a True Champ…. Tribute to Adam “Gilly” Gilchrist

Seldom in its history did cricket lovers felt sad over retirement of a wicket-keeper and I believe that’s the greatness about “Gilly”. It’s this aura that he carries with himself on and off the cricket field that makes us gloomy on his departure.

There is no doubt in the fact that he revolutionized the way people looked at Wicket-keeping batsmen. In fact he changed it so much that he has become the standard itself and this is no mean feat. Though an accomplished batsman, he also set high standards for his wicket-keeping and the moment he found his standards slipping off, he called it quits. This genuineness is perhaps one character which we can associate with Gilly throughout his career. He showed that it’s possible to be an honest yet fiercely competitive cricketer at the same time. Probably that’s something we will miss in coming days apart from his explosive batting and agile keeping. He was one of the forces that powered the Australian team to a level of invincibility and it needs to be seen how much it’s going to affect the team’s supremacy coming days.

There might be a Brad Haddin or someone else waiting to take his place but I doubt whether the replacement can achieve the same fear and respect that Gilly achieved. Only time will tell whether there ever will be another Gilly or not, but I am sure the next time when we see Australian scorecard we will ponder “Where are you Gilly? “