Beyond the 22 yards, the wides and the no-balls, the fours and the sixes, the ducks and the centuries, the win and the loss, lies the inevitable element of cricket – a wave of emotions. After the determination and hard-work, one puts in on the field, being on the losing side is always a pill hard to swallow.
There are lots of emotions fastened to cricket. And it is not just the fans. There have been several instances when the players came apart at the seams during the post-match presentation ceremony. Emotions, tears, and goodbyes from the ground infected millions of fans worldwide.
A recent example of this was seen at the presentation ceremony of the ICC World T20 2016. West Indian skipper Darren Sammy’s speech left the cricket community in trance when he poured his heart out during his narration of the team’s difficult journey in the World t20.
The speech made the victory of the West Indies feel like our own and the emotions were manifold.
Here are the top 5 most emotional speeches in cricket which are etched in the chronicles of the sport as indelible:
Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell speech
When a legend retires, emotions inevitably fill the air. But when the legend of legends retires, the scene is different altogether. Even before the Little Master addressed the world, the fans were high on emotions. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar broke the hearts of billions of fans when he put down the curtain on his remarkable cricket career of 22 years.
“My life between 22 yards for 22 years, it's hard to believe that wonderful journey is coming to an end,” said the emotional stalwart, the retirement of who caused a large number of people to lost interest in the game. In his speech of 20 minutes, Tendulkar thanked his teammates, coaches, family, friends and fans for their love and support all through his career.
Addressing the Indian team he said, “You are like my family away from home, I have had some wonderful times with you. It's going to be difficult not to be part of the dressing room sharing those special moments”.
Seeing Tendulkar teary-eyed meant an emotional stir among fans, cricketers, and the entire cricket contingent.
As he smilingly waved to the crowd with the stump in hand, the Indian players formed a guard of honor for their idol, and Tendulkar, on the brink of tears, was seen wiping his tears.
Meanwhile, the big screen at the Wankhede read, “Legends never Retire”, indeed!
Kumar Sangakkara’s farewell speech
A teary-eyed Sangakkara put a lid on his phenomenal Test career at the P Sara Oval Stadium in Colombo after the 2nd and unsuccessful Test match against India.
During his speech of eight minutes, the redoubtable Sri Lankan cricketer gave a vote of thanks to everyone possible, his school teachers, club members, teammates, coaches, fans, friends and even the Indian Test Skipper Virat Kohli and the Indian Cricket Team.
The legendary cricketer burst into tears as he further went on to thank his family and their contribution in his journey of cricket.
It was an emotional moment for every single fan on and off the ground.
Rahul Dravid’s speech during his felicitation
An evening in Mumbai that was filled with emotions – VVS Laxman had watery eyes and Rahul Dravid almost broke down in tears while Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, and Anil Kumble gave a speech to address one of the greatest flagbearers of the Indian Cricket Team.
The occasion was the felicitation of Rahul Dravid by the BCCI after the announcement of his retirement.
The Wall of Indian Cricket, who walked in with his family, listened to every speaker and thanked each of them along with the rest of the cricket fraternity.
Before he said bid adieu for one last time, Dravid said, “I may not be playing for India anymore but to the present Indian team what I would like to say is: guys, I will watch with great interest what I think is an extremely exciting and really talented group of young cricketers. I hope Indian cricket will always be a strong force, both on the field and off the field. And I have no doubt that I would take great pleasure, with a cup of tea and a biscuit in my hand, in watching you guys achieve great things."
He signed off with tears in his eyes.
MS Dhoni after India’s semi-final loss in World Cup 2015
To surrender the World Cup crown, after coming as far as the semi-finals, was definitely not easy.
India were knocked out of the World Cup by Australia and Dhoni was seen with tears in his eyes for probably the first time ever. The Indian skipper had selflessly chosen to stay in Australia despite getting an opportunity to visit his newborn baby back home.
He was determined to defend India’s World Cup title and the semi-final loss, thus, triggered a wave of emotions in the losing captain.
The picture of Dhoni with tears in his eyes went viral on social media.
AB de Villiers after losing to New Zealand in the World Cup 2015
From tears in the eyes to a cracked voice, millions of hearts broke when AB de Villiers addressed the media after being knocked down in a World Cup encounter yet another time. All through the conference, De Villiers kept wiping his tears.
His hopes for the World title were crushed and his emotions were raw. When asked if that was the worst he had felt on the field, he answered with a single syllable, “Yes”. The one-word answer spoke more articulately than any of his other responses.
With a lump in the throat, he later said, “Lots of people back home were supporting us. We think of all of them, and it’s so bad. We wanted to take that trophy back home, but life moves on, the sun will come up tomorrow”.
With the exhibition of such strong emotions from our favourite cricketers, how can we consider cricket as just a battle between the bat and the ball?
It is much beyond that.
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