It is no more interesting for me to watch cricket after Steve waugh retired. I like Steve waugh for his reargaurd actions. Even though there are many cricketers after him who are as good as Steve waugh(Mike hussey for instance), I lost the romance.

Couldn't agree more. Tennis was never the same for me after Boris Becker retired. And I cringed at the fickle memory of the Indian cricket fans when they started calling Sachin Tendulkar the little master. I believed (and still do) that the title belonged in perpetuity to my hero Sunil Gavaskar.

I don't know how much freedom children have today to choose their heroes, with the marketing men having so much influence. My devotion to Gavaskar was based on his performance, not his image, and most of the time, his performance could only be followed on a radio, not even on TV.

The heroes of today (eg. David Beckham) are celebrities first, stars next, sportsmen last. Children today are more interested in copying the hairstyles/lifestyles of their heroes, than copying their stright drive and square cuts.

The innocent act of hero worship of our childhood has been hijacked by corporates in order to make us paying customers. Sporting loyalty has, unfortunately for many in the next generation, turned to brand loyalty.

My childhood heroes were Gavaskar, Bedi, Prasanna, Chandra and there were the Chappel bros., Lillie and the Aus team of the 80s which defeated WI 5-1, way back in 75-76!!! Yes, childhood heroes are the ones that we cherish the most..In today's age with all the commercialism, betting scandal etc.. it is difficult to have heroes.. way back then, cricket was played as a game.. to be enjoyed.. ask the WI cricketers of the late 70s & 80s and they will tell you that they played as a enjoyment...now-a-days there is so much pressure from the media, internet, public, betters, game fixers etc... the players do not enjoy their game anymore.. it is like they go to office.. can you imagine Ian Botham with all his comic stuff on the field doing the same in this age?? Wish we had all these cricket exposure (TV, internet) when I was growing up!!

Instead of feeling sorry over the exit of the above-mentioned players, it must be remembered that none of these players were enjoying the game any longer not were fans and spectators either. Itwas sickening to watch Lara bat when compared to Matthew Hayden just like Indian fans found Sananth Jayasuriya enjoying the game than Sachin tendulkar who was seeking shelter down the batting order. Only Glenn McGrath appears still likely to go on taking wickets. His wife Jane's illness alone could have diminished his enthusiasm or else he still looks good enough for a couple of more years. The less said the better about Anil Kumble. He was never the Kumble we saw till 1999. Since then he's been struggling to take wickets in both forms of cricket.

In Indian cricket only two players went in their peak and both were from Bombay -- the late Polly Umrigar and Sunil Gavaskar. Kapil too was not too bad. But G.R. Vishwanath was struggling since 1980. No one grieved after this Little Maestro was unable to cope up with Imran Khan right from 1979. He came back in 1981 against Australia and England splendidly by 1982 definitely showed him in poor light both internationally and domestically.

Bhaskeran Thomas
Chennai

The cricketing world will definitly miss Brian Charles Lara one of my favourite cricketers. Well even more disappointing is he has played 297 matches, he will play 2 more and he will end his wonderful career with 299 matches. Doesn't he deserve that one extra match. Well all most all hero's of the yester year are retiring who gave their heart and soul to cricket, its a real pitty that once thse guys retire there are no greats of the game left. It ll go from hero to zero.

I would agree... My intrest in F1 died this year once Schumi retired... And I guess the same would happen in cricket once Dravid and Ganguly go.. These were the people I admired growing up..

I believe Its true and its good that people like Brian Lara are there,who relises that the Game is over for them and its time to give a chance to younger ones.
I hope Sachin Tendulkar can learn an example from his fellow Great cricket player.

out of a billion people , why can't we find a tendulkar , Ganguly , Sehwag or a Kumble ? This hero worshipping must stop and lets promote the youngsters from all parts of India and not only Bombay .
We should be grateful to Tendulkar and Ganguly but must drop them for the greater good .Fir all those who say Sachin has served india for 17 years ( he did not do it FREE , was paid very well for it ),lets recall Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar to open the bowling and batting respectively . lets also have Vishy , Tendulkar and Wadekar in the middle order and we will surely win the 2011 world cup !

Enough of hero worship. Lets bring in some young blood especially for the Bangladeah tour.

My team

Tests

G. Gambhir
Wasim Jaffer
R Dravid
Yuvraj
Raina
Rohit Sharma
Manoj Tiwari
Dinesh karthik
Piyush Chawla
Zaheer
Munaf
Sreesanth
Ramesh Powar
VRV Singh

For the one dayers I would bring in Robin Uthappa and Dhoni instead of Jaffer and Karthik.

Shane warne, Zidane, Sampras and Michael Schumacher. The best I have ever seen. Long live their legends!

I've felt that emptiness on numerous occasions,like Soumya I felt it when McEnroe, Maradona,Gavaskar,and Imran rode into the sunset, I felt it when Steve Waugh retired and when I saw Zidane being sent off in the World Cup final against Italy, my heart went out to Inzamam and Lara because I had hoped to see them go out in a blaze of glory. I'll feel it again intensely when Sachin retires...such is life !!

I've had an underprivileged childhood. I was brought up in Africa, where during the 80s and the early 90s we never had the opportunity to watch Indian cricket. My thirst was quenched by the international edition of The Hindu and the BBC at times. I always followed Indian cricket without having a hero. That changed when I watched Tendulkar hit Qadir out of the park. In sport I never had such a hero and I dont know if I ever will. For the first time I lost the only hero I had and it happened not suddenly like a cold wind blowing through, but like the gradual settling in of a long winter. 2003 WC was great for the runs he scored, eventually diluted by a loss in the finals. Since then the hero walked off into the horizon. Its an immense loss to me. It makes me turn away from a sport that provided so much joy. From hereon I need to find something else to pull me through this dreary life.

All greatly exaggerated but written with great feeling.

Absolutely true Soumya. It has definitely happened with me. The day Stefan Edberg retired, the day Azharuddin quit, things were not the same anymore. I guess the whole game lost its gloss for me. I still am passionate about tennis and cricket, but when someone dares to mention Edberg's not so great forehand or Azhar's weak record against the Windies, I find myself defending my heroes with an intensity that I rarely defend myself with. I guess the images that you capture as a child stay with you forever. And it is that innocent, genuine attachment that you desire, even long after your childhood has past!

I was at the MCG when Warne and McGrath waved goodbye to Melbourne Tests, and I felt like it would never be the same. I am 23, and they have been around all my cricket life.

When Pat Rafter retired Australian tennis lost a true gentleman. World tennis lost a precious serve-volleyer.

Golf is different; heroes seem to limp on for decades after they inspire us. I find this sad, like watching an aging pet that I grew up with slowly fade away. This is happening with Greg Norman.

I find, as I get older, that the years make some heroes greater, and dim the lustre of some. For some it is difficult to swallow statistical inferiority to contemporary heroes. It is important, though, to acknowledge the new heroes that are emerging all the time. They are some kid's hero now.

Maradona and then Zidane in Soccer and Agassi in Tennis. The day Maradona was sent out of the WC was heartbreaking. It was more so because of the hope that ppl like me got after seeing him play against Greece. It took me a lot of years to start liking a soccer player again. I fell in love with Zidaine and it was a great experience to see hi take France to the Final until that infamous headbut :(
With Agassi it was a more pleasent experience. Though there was pain to see him leave it felt like he gave it all for himslef and his die heart fanes like me.
I love Sachin and cant tell you how I would miss watching him once he retires. He I think has given me more happy days than anyone else when it comes to happyness gained from following a "game". But like all things human it has to come to an end someday.

Kapil Dev. In the mid 80's, I wouldnt mind India losing if Kapil did well. I remember the gloom that enveloped a 9 year old when Kapil was dropped in Dec 1984.
Luckily, it was only one test, and normal service resumed soon. When Kapil did poorly , I empathised with him, and never unhappy with him.

Have I cared that much for anyone since? Not a hope.

Dear Soumya,

An interesting thought. If you did a survey in India regarding cricket heroes, I'm guessing, like you with Vishwanath, more than 90% would name a batsmen. This is partly the problem with Indian cricket.

Here in Australia you would get a lot of support for bowlers. This is because the bowlers, expecially the fast ones put fear in the batsmen. They are by nature aggressive.

I have always believed that the cricket team is ONLY as good as their bowlers.

The bowlers, more often than not, are the ones who win you the matches.

I didn't have real heroes growing up in India, but admired watching Vishwanath, Prasanna, Chandra & most of the fast bowlers from around the world.

Full agreement. Especially about the reasoning as to why this is primarily a childhood phenomenon. I personally have a bitter-sweet experience in hero-worship,and believe me, it lasted upto my engineering college years. My hero was a former India captain, undoubtedly the most stylish batsman of them all, bud it all ended in disaster. I swore then, that I would never fall for it again, but then, as Soumya says, now it is someone younger than me, a Punjabi southpaw, perhaps the most naturally gifted of them all. Often, it does give you a feeling of 'deja vu' but then ...

I agree. It is at first distressing to realize that this is the last batch of heroes who are the same age group as mine (Sachin, Sourav, Lara et al). MY heroes were similar, though I have always been partial to a certain different type of hero, the quieter one, the less flashy one, especially in other sports. In football, rather than Romario, my favourite player was Bebeto from Brazil, Lothar Matthaius from Germany, and of course Zidane. YOu can say that I have always backed people from winning teams, though that's a happy coincidence.
In tennis, I always liked McEnroe and Edberg more than Becker or Sampras, Maybe I just like the serve and volleyers better. Of course I am totally floored by Federer's magic - the first tennis hero I have who is younger than me!
In cricket, most heroes are of course Indian - Sunil Gavaskar standing head and shoulders abopve everyone else. I was fascinated by Prabhakar's swing, and Gower's subtlety in batting. I was astounded by Azhar's wristiness and Cullinan's style against fast bowling, Sourav's timing and Sachin's balance.
The reason for people being Heroes are eclectic difficult to pinpoint. Someone's matchwinning ability could be a reason, while equally the reason could be someone's defiance in the face of defeat.
Among the younger bunch of cricketers, I can't find anyone in the Indian team who could become a hero as yet. But I am fan of Md.Ashraful of Bangladesh, and Alastair Cook of England - both belonging to teams that are inconsistent, and frequently woeful!

hmmmmmmmmmmm...........sportsmen i miss...or who took something away...

Saeed Anwar..
Wasim Akram...
Inzi...........they made up the 90s...they made up my sport-following childhood..

Michael Jordan...although i dont feel it anymore, but i really have stopped watchin NBA since Jordan retired....

Zinedine Zidane...wish he could play on and on and on......

People watch a sport and then have a hero - mine was the reverse - little did I know abt cricket when i saw sachin blasting away australians in a 96 world cup match - I learnt the game - square cuts, straight drive etc etc through his batting and I found myself more and more involved in the game - luckily for me it was the best time to watch sachin - that knock in sharjah - defying the sand storms - oh man! will cherish it for years to come...Though sachin is still playing - it is such a pain to see him getting bowled and looking defeated oh-so often....I felt the lump in throat that you described when I read two days back that sachin might be dropped...but then let him not punish us with this sad shadow of himself...go sachin go - will miss you for what you were...!

I want him to go so that those lengthy eulogies can be sung and his great scores can be discussed more carefree than we do now (with a snigger !!)
and yes - cricket wont be the same again for me for whatever it is workth...

some other greats will be shane warne, lara ofcourse and sampras....will miss ya guys

My hero worship ended with G.R.viswanaths retirment,only other person I admired for his style was M.L/Jaisimha.After them it was cricket for crickets sake,no hero worship.

Hello , I never too the sport to that level however I did fancy since I started to know cricket, just one person too hold of my attention as long as he was playing ,, Mr Asif Iqbal since his departure from the active cricket scene , NONE have impressed me or took hold of my imagination among the 4 Asian teams , not even Imran Khan..... Some one is arguing about the title of Little Master belongs to Gawasker than Tendulkar ,,, this is pure nationalism , every body who knows cricket of the past 40+ years , this title was , is and always have been duly bestowed upon one & only one , Haneef Mohammad of Pakistan ,, the others are just borrowing it after he left the scene ... People should knwo the actual historical back ground rahter than just driven by nationalistice prejudices

Yes it's so true. you have hit the nail on the head.I was a tennis player and used to idiolize Ivan Lendl . i used to cry watching Lendl lose to Boris Becker in the semis and finals of Wimbledon. i felt pain but the moment he retired i have lost interest in the game. no Aggasi or sampras could restore the interest . sometimes the individual players become bigger then the game itself for some fans like me .example is that of Kurt Cobain , with his death cameth the death of Grunge

I completely agree with the author.We normaly get involved with an individual player even in a team game.I started watching cricket for the one man called Sachin R.Tendulkar.I feel sorry for the person who degrade him after the world cup loss MIND YOU its becoz of him India reached 2003 world cup finals and 1996 semi-finals.People tend to speak abt his non-performance in finals.Remember becoz of him India goes to finals..He failed in once cup India is out of series.He has given joy to billions for a long time..He s more than abt cricket..He s perfect role model for millions of youngster in India..you cant call lara and warney are role models..
Support him when he s down..He has given me joy when I felt bad abt my exams..He failed his exams I am supporting him...
Long Live Sachin!! (Before saying anything abt sachin think)

Ivan Lendl,Sunny Gavaskar,Michael Platini and more recently Brian Charles Lara...hopefully, Sachin and Sourav should get the "timing" right like they've always done while playing their shots at the peak of their cricketing abilities...it amazes me that NO INDIAN CRICKETER has had a "farwell test" after Sunny, which was 21 years ago at Bangalore.

Soumya. So consistently accurate like Mcgrath and yet so charming like Azhar.

Football has never been the same since Maradona's retirement and I m still reeling under the shock of Riquelme's retirement. I don't think Football will see another playmaker like him.

And for all my admiration for Roger Federer, he will never be what Sampras was to a lot of us.

I really felt sad when Kapil played his last ones. I was 18 then and he was my hero

Cricket -> Wasim Akram
Football -> Diego Maradona
Tennis -> Andre Agassi
Hockey -> Shehbaz Ahmed
Squash -> Jehangir Khan
Wrestling -> Bret Hart

i no exactly wat you mean the same happened to me with tennis when pat rafter retired only now with andy murray am i starting to feel for the game but nowhere near as much as before the romance is gone, also since wasim akram has retired i feel pakistani cricket has lost the edge and although i am still passionate about it nowhee near as much as before who knows maybe asif can rekindle the ezcitement i have lost lol (if he avoids shoaib)

In my adolscense days my cricket hero was Gary Sobers. Repeatedly I watched his game and he never failed to bring his team out of trouble. In the present day sportsmen, I have our tennis hero Roger Federer. Its true when one is older one gets cynical but the values change. In Federer I see a true gentleman which is very much lacking in the present day sportsmen. McEnroe always argued on the court and I saw it as a distraction to his adversaries. Marodanna became a drug abuser and Schumacher, his pride went to his head. I see Alonso who acts more like a gentleman and its important how their attitudes and charachter's are portrayed to the young. I guess or sportsmen heroes should bear this responsibilty whenever they go into the field. Their body language and mouth too should be well borned.
Lugano, Switzerland

Its a very strange feeling growing up watching a career of a successful sportsman start, blossom and then finally end. You almost think of these sportsmen as invincible, like they would go on forever. Its very strange seeing that all come to an end.

Tennis : Sampras. Although im sure federer is a better player than he was, Sampras too was just all class.

Rugby : Jonah Lomu and Christian Cullen. Although you could say that they havent completely retired yet.. there international careers are over. But watching these two guys rip apart the opposition was just something to behold. Lomu with devastating strength and cullen with speed and style

Cricket : Shane Warne (what a competitor), Mark waugh (elegance).. But of all the players nearing retirement.. it will be very sad to see the end of one Sanath Jayasuriya,, a true champion who's style no one can match!

Quite fascinating article. I remember the bittersweet feeling watching a 14 year old Brian Lara put much older bowlers from my school (a short jog down the road from his) to the sword. Even then, the high backlift, the placement, the immaculate timing, the sheer delight in batting were a sight to behold. We hated him because we could never get him out, but felt pride in being a contemporary of someone destined to greatness. And now he is retiring and it's beyond surreal...hard to reconcile those vivid childhood memories with a player whose 'game is up', and with a West Indies team whose heroes-in-waiting are all much younger than I am: the feeling of loss is immense, much, I imagine, like my father felt watching Larry Holmes beat Muhammed Ali, or watching Pele sign off from the game. It's much more than nostalgia or the easy cliche that the past was better; it is, as you say,as if a part of you leaves with them. Ah well, Brian. Two more ODI innings to light up the world. Even if you don't manage them, thanks for the memories bro.
Ash. UK.

Its a matter of finding an example of perfection, something to aspire to. When I watched Michael Jordan play basketball, I was immediately impressed by all facets of his game. He was perfect in defense and could make any play offensively in the book. More importantly, he made plays when they were absolutely necessary. We look at all the necessary attributes required for perfection and we find the one person that does all of it (or most of it) and in my case when it is done with a certain amount of humility, that person becomes my "hero". Its important to have this, not only in sport, but life in general. We all need examples of perfection so we can model our thoughts, words and deeds around those models.

A true hero's grit is measured when against all odds and when the others are crumbling around you, you are able to stay on, stay focussed and win the game for your team / club/ country. In that, Viswanath, Kapil, Dravid and Laxman stand tall and players like Gavaskar and Tendulkar for all their records and glories fall way short.

Are heroes always supposed to win everything? My two heroes growing up were Adam Parore (Cricket) and Sergi Brugera (Tennis). They aren't that glamorous but that ties in with my interest for Existentialist philosophy.

Every worldcup some or other guy/star quits/retires/forced to quit/gets dropped etc. It is nothing new.
WC 2003 saw Rhodes,Donald,Wasim, Waqar sign off..people lamented then and now.

the crucial thing is going out on top.people still remember Bradman's last duck.
Rhodes fractured his arm while fielding,Donald was whacked all over the park,Inzamam lost to ireland,Lara flattered to deceive,Kumble was sidelined for more than a year. not every tom dick and harry can be a mcgrath or warne to sign off in style.

Madonna, really! Lol!

Why did someone not think about this article earlier?
I guess losing your idols to the ravages of time is like no other feeling.I had three great idols in sport- 1. David Gower in cricket- I never liked England as a team, but all that changed when Gower came to the crease. I did not care if England won or lost as long as he performed well. I still cannot forgive Graham Gooch and I think England has been paying for his mistake ever since. Gower's grace on and off the field makes him an all-time-great for me.
2. John McEnroe- Yeah, I know he was badly behaved but I have never-NEVER- seen the kind of shots he regularly pulled off all his career. I have seen Sampras, Becker, Agassi and Federer but his unmatched brilliance in singles, doubles AND Davis Cup makes me feel how he can even be compared to anyone else.
3. Jimmy Connors- He is the only guy I think can win even at 80... I have experienced great feelings in individual matches, but what he did at the US Open at 39 goes beyond anything I have experienced in all my sport-watching years. I doubt I will ever feel that way again in sport...
I definitely remember crying when these three went out, and thinking "Who do I root for now?"
I still haven't answered that question.....
Great article Soumya!

Cricket: Viv Richards
Rugby: Waisali Serevi
F1: Alain Prost
Boxing: Julio Cesar Chavez
American football: Barry Sanders
Basketball: Michael Jordan

CRICKETERS WHO DRAG THEIR CAREERS ON DRIVE ME NUTS.
People claim Lara should go on...Why?
One of the problems with West Indian Cricket is leadership. You can be a fantastic batsman as Lara was but have little skills in leadership. WHat won England the Ashes on 05 (besides a lot of luck) leadership! What helped Australia win them back? Leadership!
It's time to clear house for West Indian cricket and when I read that Lara was off I was very glad!
Time to stop idolising this man and put the pressure onto the teram to perform and West Indian cricket to begin to 'develop' the next Lara (because I doubt he's in any type of academy right now!)
I long for a contest where the west indians are a force again..(besides retired beach cricket).
Lara's departure is the beginning hopefully of a change in focus..If only he'd bugger off out of the test team too..

Nostalgia hits back and hits really hard. I grew up watching Sachin's scintillating straight drives, Lara's remarkable cuts and cover drives, Allan Donald and Wasim Akram's fiery spells, Anil Kumble's relentless accuracy...the list is endless. Not just cricket, the same holds true for Sampras, Maradona, Zidane, Schumacher et al. It is really exigent to believe that we will see none of those coruscating performances ever again. The fervour these geniuses brought to their respective games will never be matched again.Yes, it's true that new talents will come and the game will carry on as ever but it will never be the same. It may sound inexpedient to many purists but I believe that these greats have surpassed the game itself owing to their sheer talent. But then, Time is an invincible opponent and even the best are subdued by its whims so I have to keep reminding myself of the stark reality. Even then my mind occasionally slips back to the yesteryears and revels in joy reminiscing the moments when MY HEROES stalked the arena.

My childhood sporting hero is best described by this quote of his - "In every game I play there are three players in me that could surface anytime, Good Goran, Bad Goran, Crazy Goran!". The first time I saw Ivanisevic play was in that unforgettable 1992 Wimbledon final where he ran out of steam after a near flawless fourth set against Agassi. What was prepossessing about Ivanisevic was his absolute joy in playing and a certain naivete in his approach to the game and the media. As tennis players are increasingly encouraged, under the garb of professionalism, to become emotionless hitting automatons, Ivanisevic displayed a heady mix of unbridled joy and petulance.

A violent temper and its attendant loss of focus ensured that his supporters were spared the expense of a nail clipper. Nothing in sport (for me) has been as tormenting as watching Crazy Goran go on a racquet-breaking, net-kicking , umpire-abusing fit on being called for a foot fault in the fourth set of his epic Wimbledon final against Rafter. As millions of supporters thought 'Oh no, not again' as Ivanisevic self-destructed to hand Rafter the fourth set, mercifully, the Good Goran turned up in the fifth set and he held his nerve and temper to consign the 'best player to not win a grand slam' tag to the dustbin.
"Safety first" is a popular mantra these days in varied fields, but Ivanisevic had clearly not heard of it. Whether it was his propensity to go for second serve aces (even when he was down matchpoint) or a lively distaste towards pushing for a double break, he had the purists shaking their heads in disbelief.
Diplomacy was never his strongest suit and he was loved by journalists for being a veritable rent-a-quote. Ivanisevic rarely hid behind the usual banal platitudes which have made post-match press conferences such snooze fests. Consider his take on John McEnroe - Nobody is good for him....who cares about him?- after being labelled a one shot wonder by the legendary American.
Add to this, his endearing eccentricites; watching teletubbies daily and asking to serve with the same ball with which he had just served an ace and it is no wonder Ivanisevic was a fans' favourite, despite possessing a much-derided uni-dimensional game.

While I agree this is needless nitpicking, would it hurt Federer to show some sign of being pleased after hitting an unbelievable "What the.." shot, instead of merely fiddling with his racquet strings?

Let us not worry about who goes out. That is part of life. Did we ever think when legends/heores like Gawaskar, Viv Richards, Imran, Vishwanath, etc (the list is endless)vacated the scenes that we would get to see new heroes like Wasim, Sachin and Brian? In the same way, new heroes and legends will come up. So cheer up!

During my young days when i started to watch Cricket we did not have a television set at home. I used to watch Cricket in my neibhours house through their window, standing on the road side. I had to plead with the lady of the house to switch on the Television set. Watching Steve Waugh in those tough match situations and with his never say die attitude has made me tough in life as well. For me my Hero will always be the man known as TUGGA (Stephen Roger Waugh)

Sadly the day comes when all have to hang up their boots/gloves/bat... whatever. I think that in Lara's case he possibly played on a little longer than he should have. Why, mostly because West Indies cricket is in a spot of bother. Who can captain the side? Who can claim a spot in the top order?

Although never really a Lara fan (although nobody can doubt his brilliance!) I have to say that it was heart that kept him going for the sake of his side. I think that is the one thing that is slowly slipping away from most games. Heart - the one thing that will keep someone with a broken leg running. I can't recall the last time we saw that on a large scale.

My hero on the football pitch - a kid I played with years ago. While defending our goal he broke his ankle (both bones just above it). He got up and finshed the game limping about. Although not a smart move, I wonder when next we will see that dedication by anyone on the sports field?

Great article Soumya!!!

My childhood hero: Sachin Tendulkar... The way He has carried the expectations of a billion ungrateful Indians on His shoulders with such sage like humility is just amazing... Whatever any one says Sachin will alwayz be my hero for all the great things that He achieved & the manner in which He achieved them)

The only 1 sportsperson who has been a greater player & role model for me than Sachin is Zinedine Zidane... Mesmerising soccer skills & the ability to do glorious things at the biggest stages...(1998 World Cup final,2000 Euro,2002 Champion's League final & 2006 World Cup Quarter final against Brazil).Moreover a really modest, generous & humble person who has overcome tremendous odds as an Algerian immigrant in a racially hostile France... The sort of traumatic childhood He faced,where He had to hear repeated insults about His religion,His family & His race,one can fully appreciate why He occasionally loses His temper so badly like He did in the 2006 World Cup final.. Zidane is GOD!!!

The other names that I must mention before concluding are:

VVS Laxman(The unluckiest cricketer I have ever seen but what an amazing artiste... Pity Indian selectors have never realised His true worth)

Leander Paes(It has alwayz been a privilege to watch him represent India at Asiads,Davis Cup,Olympics et al and the lone warrior still continues to fight... His reflexes at the net in doubles are mesmerising & 1999 was the best time to be an Indian tennis fan when Paes Bhupathi played electrifying tennis to reach all 4 Grand Slam finals)

And lastly the Rock(The people's champion & the Most electrifying man in the history of aports entertainment)

Briliiant post!!

Leander Paes by a mile. How this guy at an age when most tennis players have cleaned, polished and stacked their trophies and medallions in their cabinet continues to play tennis at the highest level(in doubles) is a tribute to his fitness and passion for the sport. Its such a pity that in Davis Cup competitions he has to pull himself together and play singles simply cos no one else has stepped up to take over the mantle for a number of years. Leander Paes rocks.

Excellent post. very excellently and aptly put. especially these words "I’ve had many heroes in my 30-odd years of following cricket. Increasingly, they are younger, much younger, than I am. (Quite a realization, that, the first time one has it. Then one gets used to it; one knows that the sportsmen we’ll admire will be only younger than we are.) "

these words were exactly what i felt when i noticed the ages of my sporting heroes bieng younger then me. also losing the charm of game after our heroes have retired has also been appropriately captured by you.

u feel more depressed when especially your cricketing heroes retire (since they have more sporting life, hence longer association is formed with them). when steve waugh retired, michel jordan retired agggasi retired, martina and graff retired i felt the same things.

These are some of the best postings I have seen on this Board - the comments, from all different cricket team followers,are really charming and bring back childhood memories.
Maybe I'm having a senior moment...

Mr Bhattacharya,
wonderful article, but one point I wish to make and in a sense ask if you and others agree or not.

Maybe as we age we stop worshiping new heroes who are younger than us, because they point out to us what we werent able to achieve in all the years of workshipping others ?

My heros- Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Pete Sampras.

play 10 match series between these two teams.
india seniors: sehwag, ganguly,dravid, sachin, yuvraj, dhoni,agarkar,zaheer,harbhazan,munaf,powar. coach: gavaskar.
india juniors : robin uttappa, vidyuth sivaramakrishnan,mohd.kaif, suresh raina,dinesh karthik,manoj tiwari, irfan pathan, laxmipaty balaji, piyush chawla,sreesanth,r.p.singh. coach: greg chappel.

Cricket (1st sport)-- Wasim Akram
Cricket (2nd sport)-- Wasim Akram
Cricket (3rd sport)-- Wasim Akram
Football-- Zidane
I like Dravid among Indian batsmen, but unfortunately haven't seen an Indian player with an aura about him-- like Shane Warne or Imran Khan.
Amitab Bachan if he were a cricketer.

Heroes for children are meant for character building. They idolize certain characters in their heroes and try to emulate them. Heroes can come from any field; music, sport, science etc. As children grow and define their personalities and character their heroes remain as fond memories and as a reflection of themselves. Gods, idols, stars, superstars and leaders are all our heroes to choose from. I disagree with the author in that he said the likes of Lara, Kumble, and Inzi will not come again. Each generation has its sports heroes. The point is the author and the older generation will not look for any heroes in the current or future generations. They may merely enjoy watching the sport devoid of any hero worship. But the youth will always look for their heroes. My other point is that the fans use these good sportsmen or artists as idols and build their character based on them. I think this is very disturbing and may result in fragile character building. If Sachin fails, the fan is depressed because he failed! Only Gods, visionaries and true leaders should be used to promote good character building and personalities. For example, Rama, Jesus, Sita, Rama Krishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda, Mahatma, Ambedkar, Sai Baba, Mother Therassa, Einstein etc. A character or personality that is based on these sources remains strong most of the time because the sources never fail. If we don’t have access to or faith on these type of sources we tend to find pseudo sources in fields like sports and music. And we tend to see Sachin and Ganguly in the form of gods. How many of us can draw inspiration and build character based on Baba Amte, Medha Patkar, Dalai Lama and many such great modern leaders and visionaries. If we all tap into these sources then Sachin like heroes will remain mere sports stars and some of us who are budding cricketers can actually hero worship to become next Laras and Sachins.

Greg Chappell, Sydney, batting of the back of a series of ducks and a bout of gastro. Sheer determinetion and brilliant batting display, I will remember for the rest of my days. Senna driving an underpowered car to win in wet conditions and then win many more times there after.(schumacher not 1/2 the driver though stats say otherwise.)Thing is, in most sports some one pops up to take the mantle.Gavaskar/Miandad/Aravinda DE Silva/ Wasim/ Lillee/Chappells/Marshal/V.richards etc etc.. now we have the Sachins/ Laras/Hayden/Ponting/Dravid/Trecothic(when well)...I think always we get lost and comfortable in what we have and tend to forgt about the youth wanting a go. For some reason players are left to decide when they are going to quit( like they own the game? No more odi. or no more test.??) Always to long they play, and we await the next big innings. What a farce!.All in the name of money and greed, or you see them let the game slip away in the interest of getting that next 50/100 for the stats sheet.In the 20's/60's to play 50 tests was an achievement, now its expexcted to play 100 and almost a god given right to the player? We have players with 200/300+ games...Why? For me, this is the answer as to why some teams fielding is so lack lustre. No way is the drive there to play and play hard after so many times on the park.I would sack 90% of both the Indian/Pakistani Teams if it were up to me..They showed no interest in the games they were meant to play..Plenty of young stars out there waiting to shine people, we just got to give them ago..As an Aussie, I'll be sad to see Jayasuria leave, AWESOME to watch..Hayden, absolutely Brutal in full flight...but there is life there yet in our youth.dont dispair. all will turn around

It was interesting to read what vinod said about having a billion people to pick another hero out of...but what of us West Indians?

Lara is a flawed genius, but he is above all a genius and has given us so much joy. I'm writing this from the media centre at Kensington- just over 8 years ago I was over in the bleachers watching him carry the West Indies to a spectacular victory with that 153 against Australia. I was 17 at the time and that was and still remains the greatest day of my life. That's what heroes do for their fans.

But look at what we have left now. Who among this lot the WI has now can live up the cricket heroes of our past? There is not a one of the calibre of Lara, Viv Richards, Sobers, Worrell, Walsh, Marshall...
Pretty depressing, actually.

Cricket > In days gone by = Richard Hadlee, Dennis Lillee, Sunil Gavaskar, Gordon Greenidge, Des Haynes, Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Ian Smith, Glenn Turner, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram. Not many around these days to come close to these guys.
Playing today = Mattiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Glenn McGrath, Matt Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Steve Fleming, Shane Bond, Dan Vettori and Brendan McCullum (who I rate as the best WK in the game today), Brian Lara (just retired), Sachin Tendulka, Jacques Kallis.

an article that evoked similar thoughts in my heart ; senna, maradona, becker, arjuna ranatunga ; i will never feel as closely tied emotionally as i was to them...

Yes I do agree when great players leave, somthing special disappears from the game. For West Indians, Cricket would never be the same without Brian Lara, the best batsman in the modern era. Brian thank you for inspiring the cricketing world your records speak for themselves and real cricket fans would always remember the moments you made memories that would forever be etched into our minds.