CRICKET LEGENDS

Kapil Dev “The Haryana Hurricane”

Kapil Dev was Born to Ram Lal Nikhanj, a building and timber contractor and his wife Raj Kumari in Chandigarh on 6 January 1959. He did his education from D.A.V. and later joined Desh Prem Azad. He started his career with Haryana against Punjab in November 1975 and in the very first match he he impressed all with his out-swingers which gave him six wickets and helped Haryana to victory. Kapil made his Test cricket debut in Faisalabad, Pakistan on 16 October 1978. Though he did not give impressive performance in his test cricket debut, but he showcased his all rounder talent by taking wicket of Sadiq Mohammad with his trademark outswinger and scored India's fastest Test half-century off 33 balls and 2 sixes in each of the innings during the 3rd Test match at National Stadium, Karachi. Kapil dev scored his maiden Test century  (126) at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi in just 124 balls against West Indies. He established himself as a premium fast bowler when he took two 5-wicket hauls and ended the home series against Australia with 28 wickets  and also 212 runs that included a half-century. A interesting fact when India tour Australia in 1980-81,  India were 1–0 down and were defending a meagre 143 runs and Kapil Dev got  ruled out with a groin injury. Australia were 18/3 at the end of fourth day, Kapil willed himself to play the final day with pain-killing injections and removed the dangerous Australia middle order. Kapil won the match for India with the innings bowling performance of 16.4–4–28–5, a bowling performance that figures in his five best bowling performance. In the same Australian tour, he scored his first fifty in ODIs against New Zealand at Brisbane.

Kapil dev took the charge of Indian Captain in the 1982–83 season against Sri Lanka after the disastrous tour of Pakistan. In the 1983 World cup match ,India faced Zimbabwe at Nevill Ground, Royal Tunbridge Wells on 18 June 1983 under overcast conditions. Indian team were in disaster situation as the top order started a procession back to the dressing room. Batting with the lower order batsmen, Kapil Dev stabilised the side with his  unbeaten 126 runs for the 9th wicket together with Kirmani – a world record that stood unbroken for 27 years (10000 days),and finished not out with 175 runs off 138 balls, an innings that included 16 boundaries and 6 sixes. In February 2002, Wisden compiled this innings figures in the Top 10 ODI Batting Performances at No. 4. The greatest tragedy of being India's Cricketer of the Century was that this memorable moment of Kapil's road to 175 in the 1983 World Cup was not captured on film due to BBC strike in Britain.

The historic day in Indian cricket , final match of 1983 World Cup against West Indies. India were restricted for 183 runs by opponent. West Indies steadied their innings to 57/2 on the back of quick scoring by Viv Richards and were in comfortable position. Soon after, the match came to a turning point when Viv Richards played pull short from  Madan Lal that Kapil caught at deep square leg after running for over 20 yards running backwards and then West Indies team got collapsed for 140 all out . Kapil Dev  upset  West Indies to win India's maiden World Cup and he led from the front with 303 runs  with an of Average: 60.6, 12 wickets  with an Average of  20.41 and 7 catches in 8 matches – a truly all-round performance. The catch of Viv Richard is attributed as the turning point in the 1983 WC Final and is regarded as one of the finest in ODI Cricket.

In the first match of 1987 Cricket World Cup, Australia scored 268 against India. However, after the innings got overs, Kapil Dev agreed with the umpires that the score should be increased to 270 as one boundary during the innings had been mistakenly signalled as a four and not a six. India scored 269 falling short of Australia's score by one run. In the Wisden Cricketer's Almanack (the world's most famous sports reference book) , it was reported that "Kapil Dev's sportsmanship proved the deciding factor in a close-run match".

He played his last world cup , 1992 Cricket World Cup under the captaincy of Mohammad Azharuddin.  He retired from Cricket in the year 1994, after breaking Richard Hadlee's and became the most Test wickets taking bowler by taking 434 wickets.

After retirement from cricket, he was appointed as coach of the Indian national cricket team in 1999.

In the year 2002, Wisden announced him as one of the sixteen finalists for the Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century award in July 2002. He was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel by General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of the Army Staff on 24 September 2008 and joined army as honorary officer.

He got married to Romi Bhatia in 1980 and had a daughter, Amiya Dev.  Kapil dev is the only Asian founding member of Laureus Foundation in 2000. He has written three autobiographical works. By God's Decree , Cricket my style and  Straight from the Heart .

At last, I would say, Kapil Dev was probably one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball and only knew one way of playing the game, to take the attack to the cleaners. Kapil Dev was probably one of the best all-round fielders that India had produced and the world has seen who was terrific in the outfield, nimble feet, blessed with a fantastic throwing arm and came in handy at slips. He is truly the man behind India's success in the 1983 World Cup which had put India in the world map as a country which is ready to take on the very best. His banana out-swingers used to test the best of batsmen and was noted for his graceful action. He  often helped India in difficult situations by taking the attack to the opposition.

Sunil Gavaskar 

Sunil Gavaskar, in full Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, bynames Sunny and the Little Master was born on July 10, 1949 in  Goud Saraswat Brahmin family. Gavaskar was instigated into playing cricket in Bombay under the guidance of his Test-playing uncle, Madhav Mantri. He is being considered as one of the greatest opening batsmen of all time in cricket. Sunil Gavaskar was named India's Best Schoolboy Cricketer of the year in 1966.  With his sensational batting strength, he set world records for the most Test runs and most Test centuries scored by any batsman. His world record of 34 Test centuries (100 runs in a single innings) stood for 19 years until it was broken by his countryman Sachin Tendulkar in 2005.

He made his first-class debut for Vazir Sultan Colts XI against an XI from Dungarpur in the year 1966/67, but remained in Bombay's Ranji Trophy squad for two further years without playing a match.

In the year 1968/69, he made his debut in the 1968/69 season against Karnataka. He made a duck in his first match but he responded with 114 against Rajasthan in the second match and two further consecutive centuries. His impressive performance in domestic cricket soon attracted national notice, and he was selected for the extremely challenging tour of the West Indies in 1971.

He missed the first Test due to an infected fingernail and scored 61 and 67 not out in the second Test in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, hitting the winning runs and India got its first ever win over the West Indies. In the third test he made his  first century, 116 and 64  in Georgetown, Guyana, and 1 and 117 in the Fourth Test in Bridgetown, Barbados. In the fifth and final test of West Indies tour , he scored a century (124) and a double century (220) and gave India its first ever series victory over the West Indies, and the only one until 2006. He became the second player after Doug Walters to score a century and double century in the same match. He also became the first Indian to make four centuries in one Test series. He became the first Indian to aggregate more than 700 runs in a series, and this 774 runs at 154.80 remains the most runs scored in a debut series by any batsman. In his honour,Trinidad Calypso singer Lord Relator (Willard Harris) wrote a song.

In 1975–76 season, tour to West Indies, his 102 in  Port of Spain, Trinidad helped India post 4/406 to set a world record for the highest winning fourth innings score in Third Test. In 1977–78 he toured Australia, scoring three consecutive Test centuries (113, 127, 118) in the second innings of the first three Tests at Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne respectively. In 1978–79, India tour of Pakistan, he scored 111 and 137 in the third test which made him the first Indian to score two centuries in one Test on two occasions. His 205 in the First Test made him the first Indian to score a double century in India against the West Indies

Gavaskar captained the Indian team in 47 Test matches and dominated the game during a career that spanned 16 years and 125 total Test contests. Under his captaincy, India won nine test match and eight losses with most of the games were drawn (30). He became the first player in Test history to achieve centuries in both innings of a Test three times also became the first Indian to pass 4000 Test runs.

He equalled Don Bradman’s world record of 29^th Test century  and passed 8000 Test runs in his 95^th test match scoring 121 in 94 balls against West Indies. For his achievement, he was personally honoured by Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi at the ground. He was also known for his fine slip fielding position.

with 108 catches during his career; he was the first Indian apart from wicket keepers to reach the landmark of 100 catches. Gavaskar was the first player to score 10,000 runs in Test matches.

He made his first and only ODI century in the 1987 World Cup, when he hit 103 not out against New Zealand in his at Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground, Nagpur.

He took retirement from Test at Bangalore, 13-17 March 1987 and from ODI at leed , 13 July 1974.

After his retirement in 1987, Gavaskar put his immense cricketing acumen to great use as a popular columnist for some of the leading Indian newspapers and magazines and as a widely respected television commentator. He was inducted into the International Cricket Council’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

He has been  awarded with Padma Bhushan. He has written four books on cricket – Sunny Days, Idols, Runs n' Ruins and One Day Wonders. He was the Chairman of the ICC cricket committee until the time he was forced to choose between commenting and being on the committee. He left the committee to continue his career as a broadcaster.

He has been awarded with Col CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award for Cricket in India in the year 2012.  The Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been instituted in his (co-)honour.

He  married to Marshneill Gavaskar and have a son  Rohan Gavaskar who was also a cricketer who played some One Day Internationalsfor India.

His Records,Achievements and statistics which made his legend of Cricket:

·         Gavaskar was the first Test player to cross the 10,000-run mark.

·         He held the record for the highest number of test centuries (34) before Sachin Tendulkar went past him in 2005^.He broke Donald Bradman's record 29 Test centuries going on to get 34.

·         He is the only Cricketer to have scored centuries in each innings of a Test thrice.

·         He is the only cricketer to score 1000 runs or more in a calendar year on 4 occasions.

·         he is the only cricketer to score 5000 runs or more abroad.

·         He is the first cricketer to make fastest 1000 runs - in 78 days and 6 Tests.

·         He is the only cricketer to top score in both the completed innings of a Test on five occasions.

·         He is the only cricketer to top score in 58 completed innings.

·         He is the only cricketer to have the highest match aggregate on 36 occasions.

·         He is the Highest runs (774) maker by a debutant.

·         He is the highest runs by any player in a series (774) against West Indies.

·         He is the maximum no. of runs & centuries scored by a player against West Indies - 2749 runs & 13 centuries.

·         He is the only cricketer to score 4 consecutive centuries at 2 venues - Port of Spain & Wankhede stadium.

·         He is the the only cricketer to hit hundreds in 3 consecutive innings twice.

·         He is the only cricketer with 58 century partnership with 18 different players. 

·         He is a joint holder of the record for scoring centuries in both innings on three separate occasions along with Australia's Ricky Ponting.

·         He also became the first Indian fielder (excluding wicket-keepers) to get over a hundred catches in Test cricket.

·         He captained the national team on and off over a period between 1978 and 1985, which included a great 2 - 0 win over Pakistan in 1979/80.

·         He was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year in 1980.

·         Test debut: West Indies v India at Port of Spain, 6-10 March 1971

·         Last Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore, 13-17 March 1987

·         ODI debut: England v India at Leeds, 13 July 1974

·         Last ODI: India v England at Mumbai, 5 November 1987

·         First-class span: 1966-1987

·         First Class Debut: Vazir Sultan Colt's XI v Dungarpur XI at Hyderabad, 1966/67

·         Last First Class Match: Rest of the World v M.C.C. at Lord's, 1987

·         Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1980

·         List A span: 1973-1988 

·         Break-up of 100s of Gavaskar in first class cricket: 34 - Tests, 20 - Ranji Trophy, 3 - Irani Cup, 6 - Duleep Trophy, 1 - Rest of the World against England (his last first class game), 2 - county cricket for Somerset and 15 in other games. Sachin Tendulkar equals Sunil Gavaskar's record of first class 100s on 8 February 2013 

ALLAN BORDER: Pillar of Australian Cricket Team

Allan Robert Border by name A.B is an Australian former cricketer who was born on  27 July 1955 in Cremorne , a North Shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. He completed his schooling from North Sydney Boys High School,and earned his leaving certificate in 1972. He played for Mosman Baseball Club, where he developed  and enhanced his fielding  and horizontal-bat shots skills.

He made his début for Mosman in Sydney Grade Cricket as a left arm orthodox spinner and got selected for the 1972-73 Combined High Schools team in the intrastate carnival. In 1975-76 grade cricket , he scored more than 600 runs with the bat including two consecutive centuries and he got selected for NSW.

In Domestic cricket, he scored 135 against Western Australia at Perth, and followed up with 114 against Victoria at the SCG in the year 1978-79.  In the same year, he got chance for his test debut . He made his test debut on 29 December 1978 for Ashes Series at the MCG .  It was a tough series for Australia as they had lost first two test Tests. In the first Test match he took more than half an hour to score three runs. He made 29 and was run out for a duck in the second innings. In the next test match he was in the top scorer in both innings with 60 not out and 45 not out as Australia lost the match and the Ashes. In the following Test match he scored only 11 and 1 in both innings at Adelaide and was dropped for the Sixth Test.

He had been recalled for the first test against Pakistan at the MCG . He scored 105 and made his maiden Test Century though Australia lost the game by 71 runs. With his 85 and 66 not out, Australia squared the series with a victory in Perth. He topped batting aggregates and averages with 276 runs at 92.00 in his second test series.

On six-Test tour of India, Australia failed to win a single match . As a result of his performances in India scoring 521 runs at 43.42 in the Test series, including 162 in the First Test at Madras ,  he was selected for the 1st Test against West Indies at Brisbane in December 1979. He was one of only three players to retain their places for the 1st Test against West Indies at Brisbane in December 1979. With his consistent batting he scored 1,000 Test runs in only 354 days, the fastest ever by an Australian and made more runs (1,070) in his first year as a Test cricketer than anyone before.

In 1981, Border made his first Ashes tour  he scored 533 at  an average of 59.22. In the same tour he scored  slowest Test hundred (in 377 minutes) by an Australian. In the final Test at The Oval, he scored 106 not out and 84. He also defied the English bowlers for more than 15 hours to score 313 runs before he was dismissed. After this inning,  Sir Leonard Hutton  called  him the best left-handed batsman in the world and  it resulted in his selection as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1982.

In 1988–89, Australian lost again to the West Indies. Border scored 258 run at an average of 32.25  but he gave his best performance with the ball. He celebrated becoming the first Australian to play 100 Tests by taking 7/46 and 4/50, with only victory for Australia in the series at Sydney in the Fourth Test. His bowling figures was second best for an innings by an Australian captain. He was awarded with player of the match award .In match presentation ceremony, he said, "there will be batsmen all around the world shaking their heads in disbelief when they see the result".

In the year 1992-93, West Indies tour to Australia, he became the second player after Sunil Gavaskar to pass 10,000 Test runs. He became the first player since Joe Darling to lead Australia in England on three Ashes tours in 1993. He lead the first Australian team to play a Test series against South Africa after their return to international cricket. In the same test series, he retired from International test cricket on 27 March 1994. He retired from ODI on 8^th April 1994.

He played 156 Test matches in his career, a record until it was passed by fellow Australian Steve Waugh. He still retains the world record for the number of consecutive Test appearances of 153 and the number of Tests as captain. With the bat, Border made 11,174 Test runs ( including 27 test centuries ) which was a world record until it was passed by Brian Lara in 2005 . He scored 6524 run in his ODI career. He retired as Australia's most capped player and leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs. His Australian record for Test Match runs stood for 15 years before Ricky Ponting overtook him during the Third Ashes Test against England in July 2009. He was one of the 55 inaugural inductees of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

He married to Jane Hiscox

Mike Coward wrote of Border's legacy,

[... He] committed the greater part of a long and distinguished career to re-establishing the credibility and image of Australian cricket. A self-effacing man of simple tastes and pleasures, Border served at the most tempestuous time in cricket history, and came to represent the indomitable spirit of the Australian game. As it grappled with two schisms, the first over World Series Cricket, the second over the provocative actions of the mercenaries in South Africa, it was debilitated and destabilised as never before and cried out for a figure of Bradmanesque dimensions to return it to its rightful and influential position on the world stage [.... Border] was able to expunge many of the prejudices and preconceptions amongst his team-mates about playing cricket in the Third World [which] was another of the outstanding legacies of his captaincy.

Post retirement, he served as a member of the Queensland team from 1994- 1995.He served as an Australian selector from 1998 till 2005. In his honour, Australian cricketer of the year now receives the Allan Border Medal. Also two cricket grounds have been renamed in Border's honour. The India–Australia test series has been named the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

He wrote an autobiography “Beyond Ten Thousand: My Life Story”

In 2000, he was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and named twelfth man in Australia's "Greatest ever ODI Team". He became a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1986,and an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1989. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1990,was named Queenslander of the Year in 1994. He received an Australian Sports Medal in 2000.

.

·         Most career Test runs with 11,174 runs, a record held until November 2005, when it was passed by the West Indian Brian Lara .

·         Most Test matches played (156) and most consecutive Test matches played (153). Border still holds the record for most consecutive matches. The former record was surpassed by Steve Waugh.

·         Batted in more Test match innings (265) than any other player (since surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar).

·         Most Test scores between fifty and 100 (63) and most scores of at least 50 (90). (Since surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting).

·         Captained in 93 Tests (all consecutive), both world records (the former record has since been surpassed by Graeme Smith)

·         Most Test runs as captain (6,623). This record was surpassed by Graeme Smith.

·         Most capped Australian player in Tests and ODIs. These records were surpassed by Steve Waugh.

·         Leading Australian runscorer in Tests and ODIs. His ODI tally was first surpassed by Mark Waugh in 1999. His Test aggregate was superseded by Ricky Ponting in 2009.

·         Most Test catches by a non-wicket-keeper (156); record since first passed by Mark Taylor in 1999.

·         The only player to have scored 150 in each innings of a Test, a record which still stands at of 10th September, 2013.

·         He was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1982.

Sir Richard John Hadlee  -- Sultan of Swing

Sir Richard John Hadlee was born on  3 July 1951 at St Albans, Christchurch to Walter Hadlee and Lilla Monro. His father Walter Hadlee was also a New Zealand cricketer and Test match captain. In Cricket history, Richard Hadlee  is one of the greatest fast bowlers and all-rounders.

He  made his first class debut for Canterbury in 1971/72 and his test match debut in 1973. Though he was as an inconsistent performer at test level for several years; a winning performance against India in 1976 in which he took 11 wickets in a game resulting in a win by New Zealand made his place in the side. In 1978, New Zealand made historic first win over England. In this match Hadlee was the key contributor for this win. He destroyed the opponent with his attacking bowling and took  6 for 26 in England's second innings. Chasing a target of 137, England were all out for 64.

In the next season 1979/80, in the home test series against West Indies, Hadlee made his maiden test century which helped the New Zealand to draw the test and win the series with 1–0. The result was the start of a 12 year unbeaten home record for New Zealand in test match series. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours.

It was Hadlee outstanding all-round performance in which he 8 wickets in the match, and scored a rapid-fire 99 in New Zealand's and helped New Zealand for a remarkable three-day innings victory (including one day lost to rain) over England at Christchurch in the year 1984.

In 1985/86, Hadlee developed himself from a very good fast bowler to a truly great one. With his bowling attack, New Zealand beat Australia and won the first test series win in Australian Soil. In the same year  he took 300 test wicket. He helped New Zealand to a 1–0 series win in England, their first over that country in England.

In 1989/90, Hadlee become the first bowler in history to take 400 test wickets when he dismissed Sanjay Manjrekar in the second innings of the first test in home series against India.

In 1990, Hadlee was appointment as a Knight Bachelor for services to cricket.  Hadlee ended his test career by taking 5 wickets in his final bowling performance, and taking a wicket with the final ball of his test career.

He won the Cricket Society Wetherall Award for the Leading All-Rounder in English First-Class Cricket in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1987. He  was a right-arm pace bowler. His outswinger delivery became his main weapon in the latter stages of his career. He regarded great Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee as his bowling role model.

He broke the Test-wicket taking record on 12 November 1988 with taking his 374th wicket. He took his 400^th Test wicket on 4 February 1990. He dismissed Devon Malcolm for a duck on his last Test delivery, on 9 July 1990. In his 86 matches of Test career he took 431 wickets and became the first bowler to pass 400 wickets, with an average of 22.29, and made 3124 Test runs at 27.16, including two centuries and 15 fifties. He was the master of swing and was the original Sultan of Swing.

He played 115 ODI’s matches and scored 1751 runs with an average of 21.61 including 4 fifties.

He took 158 wickets with an average of 21.56. He took retirement from ODI on 25 May 1990.

In August 1990, Hadlee established The Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust. It was opened to help sportsmen and women who were in situations of hardship to strive for success in their chosen sporting or cultural discipline.

Hadlee was appointed as MBE in 1980 and knighted in 1990 for services to cricket. He is a former chairman of the New Zealand board of selectors. In December 2002, he received  Wisden as the second greatest Test bowler of all time. In March 2009, Hadlee was commemorated as one of the Twelve Local Heroes, and a bronze bust of him was unveiled outside the Christchurch Arts Centre.

On 3 April 2009, Sir Richard Hadlee was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. Richard Hadlee is the most prominent member of the Hadlee cricket playing family.

Throughout his Cricket career, he has received many awards which includes:

·         Appointed MBE for services to New Zealand sport in 1981.

·         Awarded a Knighthood for services to cricket in 1990.

·         Winner of the Windsor Cup on 13 occasions, including 12 consecutive years, for the most meritorious bowling performance of the season.

·         New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1980

·         Wisden Cricketer of the Year – 1982.

·         New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1986

·         New Zealand Sportsperson of the last 25 years 1987 (shared with runner John Walker)

·         New Zealand Sportsperson of the Decade 1987

·         Inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009

·         Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from Nottingham University.

·         He was also assessed as 12th Best Cricketer of all time in ESPN Legends Of Cricket.

Malcolm Marshall

Malcolm Denzil Marshall was born on 18 April 1958 in Bridgetown, Barbados . He lost his father in a road traffic accident when he was one year old. His mother Eleanor remarried and Malcom Marshall had one half-brother and one half-sister. He studied at St Giles Boys' School from 1963 to 1969 and then at Parkinson Comprehensive from 1969 to 1973.

Marshall started playing cricket for the Banks Brewery team from 1976. In August 1976,he played his first representative match for West Indies Young Cricketers against their English equivalents at Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago. He made his first senior appearance in Geddes Grant/Harrison Line Trophy match for Barbados on 13 February 1978. He didn’t score a run and failed to take a wicket. He made his first class debut against Jamaica in the year 1978 where he failed to score a run but with the bowl he took 6 wickets for 77 run in the Jamaican first innings. With this performance he was selected for West Indies tour to India in 1978/99.

On 15 December, he made his Test debut against India in the Second test match at Bangalore. He came to notice in 1980, when he took 7 wickets for 24 at old Trafford against England. But after 1980/81 he was out of the Test team for two years. He was recalled in the Test team after the 1982 season in which he took 134 wickets including a career-best 8–71 against Worcestershire.

He was at his peak of his career from 1982/83 to 1985/86 in which he took 21 or more wickets each time in seven successive Test series. He was at his best in the year 1983/84 playing series against India, claiming 33 wickets as well as scoring his highest test score of 92 at Kanpur. At the peak of his career, he turned down an offer of US$1 million to join a rebel West Indies team on a tour to South Africa, still suffering international sporting isolation due to apartheid.

In 1984, despite having broken his thumb whilst fielding in the first innings  , he took 7 wickets  for 53 run in second innings and demolished England with his finest bowling attack  at Headingley. He also batted at number 11 in West Indies' first innings with one-handed with one arm in plaster.  In the same series, he also ended Andy Lloyd's Test career after hitting him on the head. West Indies won the "blackwash" series 5–0.

He gave his career-best Test performance of 7–22 at Old Trafford in the year 1988. He took 35 wickets in five Tests, at and average of 12.65. He played his his last Test at The Oval in 1991. His final Test wicket – his 376th – was that of Graham Gooch. He took retirement from One day International cricket in 1992 World Cup.

He played 81 test matches, took 376 wickets with an bowling average of  20.94. He played 136 ODI’s matches, took 157 wickets with an average of 26.96. With the bat he scored 955 runs with an average of 14.92 in his ODI career and 1810 runs with an average of 18.85 in his test career. His Test bowling average of 20.94 is the best of anyone who has taken 200 or more wickets

After taking retirement from cricket, he became coach both of Hampshire and the West Indies in 1996.

During the 1999 World Cup it was revealed that Marshall had colon cancer. He immediately left his coaching job to start his treatment, but this was ultimately unsuccessful.

On 25 September 1999, he got married  to his long-term partner, Connie Roberta Earle, in Romsey  and returned to his home town, where he died on 4 November aged forty-one, weighing little more than 25 kg.

His coffin was carried at the service by five West Indian captains. He was buried at St Bartholomew's Church, Barbados.

In his memory, the Malcolm Marshall Memorial Trophy was inaugurated, to be awarded to the leading wicket-taker in each England v West Indies Test series. Another trophy with the same name was set up to be the prize in an annual game between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

Malcolm Marshall Memorial cricket games are also played in Handsworth Park, Birmingham. On the Sunday of the UK's August bank holiday, invitation XIs play against an individual's "select eleven".

The entrance road to Hampshire's ground the Rose Bowl is called Marshall Drive in memory of Marshall and another West Indian Hampshire great Roy Marshall.

SHANE WARNE :

Shane Warne (King of Spin) was born to Keith and Bridgette Warne on 13 September 1969 in Ferntree Gully, Victoria . He completed his initial schooling (Grades 7-9) from  Hampton High School .Later he was awarded with  sports scholarship to attend Mentone Grammar School at Mentone where he spent his final three years of schooling.

He started his cricket career in year 1983/84 season where he represented  University of Melbourne Cricket Club in the then Victorian Cricket Association under 16 Dowling Shield competition. Later he joined St Kilda Cricket Club which was near to his suburb of Black Rock.

In the year 1987, he also played five games of Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club's under 19 team. In 1988, he was delisted by St Kilda Football Club and he solely focus  on Cricket. Later he was selected to get train at Australian Cricket Academy in 1990 in Adelaide.

He joined English team Accrington Cricket Club in 1991. But in the year 1992, Accrington Cricket Club committee decided not to re-engage him for the 1992 Lancashire League season  with the reason stated that he is not seen to be good enough.

He made his his first-class cricket debut on 15 February 1991 for Victoria against Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne. Later he got selected for the Australia B team touring Zimbabwe in September 1991.He gave his best performance by taking 7/52 in a four-day match. As Peter Taylor , the incumbent spinner  in Australia team failed in first two test matches against India taking only one wicket in the first two tests matches, Warne was brought into the team for the third Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground .He made his international career debut in  Jan1992 for the third test match against India at Sydney Cricket Ground . He failed to give a impressive performance with his spin bowling in third and fourth test match and recorded overall figure of 1/228 for the series. He was dropped for the fifth Test on the pace-friendly WACA Ground in Perth.  He failed to get the chance to play for the First Test against the West Indies in the 1992–93 Australian season due to his unsatisfactory performances in the last two Tests in Sri Lanka. He got selected for the Second Test in Melbourne, where he took 7/52 in a match-winning performance in the second innings.

In 1993, he was selected for Australia's Ashes tour of England. He took 34 wicket  and became the leading wicket taker for the six test series. His first ball of the series was written into the history books as the "Ball of the century". He took 71 Test wickets in 1993, then a record for a spin bowler in a calendar year. He took his career-best 8/71 in the second innings of the first Test at The Gabba in the year 1994-95, when England tour Australia for The Ashes. He took his only Test Hat-trick in the second test of The Ashes. It was also the first hat-trick by an Australian bowler in a Test against England since Hugh Trumble’s at the same ground in 1904.

In 1997-1998,he was at this peak and he the second Australian after Dennis Lillee to take 300 Test wickets. Initially the Australian media had criticised Warne for his weight; now, The Australian wrote that he was one of Australia's three most "influential" cricketers (with Donald Bradman and Dennis Lillee)

He was appointed as vice – captain in 1999. In 2000, he surpassed Dennis Lillee (with 355 wickets) as Australia's leading ever wicket-taker.  Warne joined English county side Hampshire in 2000 and and played for them during the year's English summer. . In August 2000, the Australian Cricket Board removed him as Australia's vice-captain, citing his history of indiscretions off the field.

 In  2001, Warne made his third Ashes tour and took 31 wickets in the five test series, which Australia won 4–1.  He took three five-wicket hauls in the series. In the last Test at The Oval, he took 11 wickets across both innings, including the 400th wicket of his Test career . He became the sixth person and the first Australian in the history of cricket to reach the milestone.

A day before the start of the World Cup in Feb 2003, he was banned and was sent back to home as the Australian Cricket Board found Warne guilty of breaching the Board's drug code, and imposed a one-year ban from organised cricket.

He return to cricket in Feb 2004 and created another history in cricket in March 2004.In March, he became the second cricketer after Courtney Walsh to take 500 test wickets while playing the first test match against Srilanka in Galle. He broke the record for most career wickets  in Test cricket on 15 October 2004 during the second Test of Australia's series against India at Chennai.

On 11 August 2005 at Old Trafford, in the Third Ashes Test, he became the first bowler in history to take 600 Test wickets. In 2005, Warne also broke the record for the number of wickets in a calendar year, with 96 wickets.

Warne revolutionised cricket thinking with his mastery of leg spin, which many cricket followers had come to regard as a dying art due to its immense difficulty of execution. Warne combined the ability to turn the ball prodigiously, even on unhelpful pitches, with unerring accuracy and a variation of deliveries.

Warne has been highly effective bowling in one-day cricket, something few other leg spin bowlers have managed. He also captained Australia on several occasions in One Day Internationals, winning ten matches and losing only one. Warne was instrumental in helping Australia win the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England. His performances in the semifinal against South Africa and in the final against Pakistan helped him get Man of the Match Awards. Warne had intended to retire from ODI cricket at the end of the 2003 World Cup: as it transpired, his last game for Australia was in January 2003.

In fact, of all Test cricketers Warne has scored the most Test runs without having scored a century, with two scores in the nineties being his best efforts (99 and 91). Warne is also third overall in the most international test ducks.  Warne has also been a successful slip fielder, and is currently seventh in the list of most catches as a fielder in test cricket.

On 21 December 2006 Warne announced his retirement after the fifth Ashes Test match at the SCG. He became the first cricketer to reach the 700-wicket milestone in his second last Test. He achieved his 700th test wicket at 3.18 pm on 26 December 2006 by taking the wicket of Andrew Strauss out at the MCG. The wicket was described as a "classic Warne dismissal" to which the crowd of 89,155 gave a standing ovation.

He played his last ODI match on 10 January 2005 and last test match on 02 January 2007.

After retirement from international cricket, he played as a a captain for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2008.Under his captaincy , Rajasthan Royal won the first season of IPL. He played the last IPL in 2011. He also played for Australia's Big Bash League (BBL) for the Melbourne Stars 

In July 2013, he officially retired from all formats confirming that he won't be captaining the Melbourne Stars in BBL. He is also a cricket commentator and a professional poker player.

Warne has three children—Brooke, Summer and Jackson—with his ex-wife Simone Callahan. Later he and his wife Simone Callahan separated . On 30 September 2011, it was reported that English actress Elizabeth Hurley and Warne were engaged.

In 2007, Cricket Australia and Sri Lanka Cricket decided to name the Australia- Sri Lanka Test cricket series, Warne-Muralidaran Trophy in honour of Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.

In 2000, he was selected by a panel of cricket experts as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Century, the only specialist bowler selected in the quintet and the only one still playing at the time.

He is regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the game.

Wasim Akram: Sultan of Swing

Wasim Akram was born in Lahore in a Punjabi family on 3 June 1966. He completed his education from Government Islamia College Civil Lines Lahore, where he played as an opening bowler and batsman. He made his test debut for Pakistan on Jan25,1985 against New Zealand without having any significant domestic experience. He was selected in trial which was conducted at Gadaffi Stadium in Pakistan. His performance convinced Javed Miandad to insist upon his inclusion in the Pakistan national team. In his second test match only, career he proved himself with his swing bowling taking 10 wickets in against New Zealand.

He played his first class cricket in 1988 when he was signed for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England. He was a favourite of the local British fans who used to sing a song called "Wasim for England" at Lancashire's matches. In 1988, under his captaincy, Lancashire won the ECB Trophy and Axa League.

He was on his peak in late 1980s and was being considered as one of the fastest bowler in the world. Unfortunately, he suffered from groin injury in the late 1980s which impeded his cricket career .But his hard work, dedication towards cricket and fight back attitude made him to re-emerged in the 1990s as a fast bowler who focused more on swing and accurate bowling.

Akram started his ODI career against New Zealand in Pakistan on Nov 23,1984 under the captaincy of Zaheer Abbass. He rose to prominence taking five wickets in his 3rd ODI against Australia in the 1985 Benson & Hedges World Championship.

He was phenomenal in Austral-Asia cup where Australia, India , New Zealand and Sri Lanka have participated. Akram, with the help of Abdul Qadir, bowled out New Zealand's at  64 in the second semi final of cup. Pakistan won that game with more than 27overs to spare obtaining one of the biggest wins in Pakistan history and played the final match against India.

He took his 100^th wicket of Ambrose at Sharjah in 1989–1990 Champions Trophy – 2nd Match against West Indies. In the same match he took his first hat-trick and took five-wickets haul for the second time in his career. He took his second hat-trick against Australia in 1990 at Sharjah.

From 1986-89, he was at his best taking 100 wickets with an  economy rate of less than 3.9 run/over with four 4-wicket hauls. In the 1992 Cricket world cup held in Australia, he played a key role for Pakistan making 1992 Cricket world cup

Champion. In the final against England, his batting performance during his innings of 33 runs off 18 balls,pushed Pakistan to a score of 249 runs for 6 wickets. He took  a major wicket of Ian Botham early on the English batting innings and later on, with his reverse swinging, he took two wickets in successive deliveries in one over and helped Pakistan to Victory. He was awarded as Man of the Match.

In the 1992–1993 Total International Series in South Africa, he took 5 wickets against South Africa and got his 200th wicket in his 143rd match. Akram took 46 wickets in calendar year 1993, his best year ever in ODI.

In 1999, he led Pakistan to the brink of victory in the World Cup before they capitulated and was defeated by Australia in the final, by eight wickets with almost 30 overs to spare.

In 2003 Cricket world Cup he was the best among all the bowlers of Pakistan . But Pakistan couldn’t manage to reach in super six of the tournament. As a result, the Pakistan Cricket Board sacked eight player including Wasim Akram.

He played his last ODI match on March1, 2003 against India and last test match on Jan 9,2002 against Bangladesh.

After retirement from Cricket, he joined as a sports commentator for sports channel. He also worked as bowling coach consultant of Kolkata Knight Riders for the IPL.

Akram won 17 Man-of-the-Match awards in 104 tests. He took 4 hat-tricks in International cricket – two in ODIs and two in Tests. He finished with 22 Man-of-the-Match awards in ODIs. In 199 ODI match wins, he took 326 wickets at under 19 apiece with a run rate of 3.70 and took 18 four-wicket hauls. His 257 not-out against Zimbabwe in 1996 is the highest innings by a number 8 batsman in tests. He hit 12 sixes in that, most by anyone in a test innings.

He is the only bowler who can move the ball both ways in one delivery which is called "double swing of Wasim Akram". In October 2013,Wasim Akram was the only Pakistani cricketer to be named in an all-time Test World XI to mark the 150th anniversary of Wisden Crickerter’s Alamanack.

Akram married Huma in 1995.They had two sons Tahmoor and Akbar. Huma died of multiple organs failure at Apollo Hospital at in Chennai, India on 25 October 2009.

Wasim Akram married his Australian girlfriend, Shaniera Thompson on August 12, 2013, saying he has started a new life on a happy note."I married Shaniera in Lahore last week in a simple ceremony and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife and for my kids”

At the age of 30, Akram was diagnosed with diabetes. He said "I remember what a shock it was because I was a healthy sportsman with no history of diabetes in my family, so I didn't expect it at all. It seemed strange that it happened to me when I was 30, but it was a very stressful time and doctors said that can trigger it." Since then he has actively sought to be involved in various awareness campaigns for diabetes.

Awards and Achievement  by Sultan of Swing:

Akram was awarded Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1993 for his sporting achievements. He was awarded Lux Style Award for Most Stylish Sports Person in 2003.

In his Test career, Akram took 414 wickets in 104 matches, a Pakistani record, at an average of 23.62 and scored 2,898 runs, at an average of 22.64. In One Day Internationals, Akram took 502 wickets in 356 appearances, at an average of 23.52 and scored 3,717 runs, at an average of 16.52.

Akram was the first bowler in international cricket to take more than 400 wickets in both forms of the game and only Muttiah Muralitharan has since achieved this.

He is the first bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark in ODI cricket during the 2003 World Cup.

Akram also held the record for the most wickets in Cricket World Cups, a total of 55 in 38 matches which was broken by Australia's Glenn McGrath during 2007 Cricket World Cup, ending with a final tally of 71 from 39 matches.

Akram is the only bowler who took four hat-tricks in international cricket, two each in Tests matches and One Day Internationals. Akram was also the first of only five bowlers to have taken two One Day International cricket hat-tricks. Akram is also one of only two bowlers to have taken both a Test match and One Day International hat-trick, the other being Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Sami.

Akram has also achieved the highest score by a number eight batsman in Test cricket when he scored 257 runs not out from 363 balls against Zimbabwe at Sheikhupura. The innings contained 12 sixes which is also a world record for Test cricket. He also has the third highest number of Man of the Match awards in Test cricket, with seventeen.

He is the only Test cricketer in the world (as of Feb 2013) to take ten or more wickets thrice in a test match .