A Legacy called Steve

After Sachin Tendulkar held a catch at deep square leg he had just run a few paces when he stopped and with a hitherto unseen uniformity started clapping his hands... and so did everyone in the Indian cricket team and so did the entire 40,000+ audience at the Sydney Cricket Ground... for, he had just sounded the final gong to draw to the close a legacy... a legacy called Steve... Stephen Rodger Waugh had a rather ordinary start to his career with 18 runs in his first test.. little did he think that he would play for that many more years to come... He was not a naturally gifted batsman as his brother Mark, but he had his own imaculate style and an indomitable grit that won many a lost match for his team. The world called him the "ice man" when as a young 21 year old lad he bowled splendid emotionless spells to help his team win the '87 World Cup... But the real steel in him came out in the 1995 away series in West Indies.. where he braved some fierce bowling and stood ground with a finely carved century to beat the Windies in a series for the first time in over a decade... When he took over the mantle from Mark Taylor, he had already a strong team at his disposal... all he had to do was to continue the momentum set by his predecessor.. but he had a rather sombre start drawing against West Indies... his captaincy drew flak from the media... but it was not before long that they had to eat their own words... He has always been seen by the cricketing fraternity as a man for the crisis... The unbeaten 120 against South Africa in the '99 World Cup, is probably the best One Day innings I ever watched live... and his famous words to Gibbs when he dropped him in the middle that innings "mate, you've just dropped the World Cup" is still etched in every mind.. Steve could never have been so true.. Gibbs did drop the world cup... He was class apart from his other counterparts.. his personal definition of the so-called Aussie sledging was different... neither does he have the theatrical histrionics of Brett Lee when he takes a wicket nor has he ever been as noisy as their "famous" slip cordon... When Ganguly was hit on the head by Lee... amid a lot din from the slip cordon he went close and asked "Are u fine Saurav..?".. He also did his bit of parenting too... when the little kid, Parthiv Patel's typical adolescent gimmick at him made him softly tell "Learn to show respect, Parthiv. You were in nappies when I started playing"... just like he would advise his son... The greatness of this man is not just on the field... But he has done his bit with the Udayan foundation in Kolkota that takes care of the orphans and children of lepers.. one could see the glow in every child's eyes there as Steve pays his routine visit.. the banner "We love you Steve" held by a small girl when he stepped in, says it all about him... A cricketer par excellence and a human beyond the ordinary... The sun might have set.. but the shine remains...