Fab 5 of Indian Cricket

I started watching cricket during the 92 world cup and right now i have very hazy memories of those years. Those were the days of Jim Courier, Agassi and Sampras was also rising fast. I grew with watching Sidhu hitting sixes and watching Venkatpati raju and kumble bowling in tandem. Just like any other Indian sachin became my favorite and when the 96 world cup came in our subcontinent I was 12 years old and I keenly followed the cup which gave many famous moments ranging from jadeja firing on all cylinders and kambli and raju crying in the semi finals at eden gardens. Those were the days of agression of Venkatesh Prasad and Abhey Kuruvilla if you guys remember.

India was opening up as in liberalizing it self after the debacle in the 91 and confidence was coming in the Indians also. But on cricket field the aggression was not much aggression was only
visible when a team player was scolded by another member for misfield.

Then one day at lords the mecca of cricket rose two stars Ganguly and Dada. One very aggressive and other composed. They joined my list of fav players gradually which already contained Kumble and Sachin and Sidhu also.

I have grown up watching Sachin, Saurav , Dravid , Kumble and Laxman and they all are my heroes. I relate to these players more compared to Kapil Dev to whom our fathers relate as a fighter who won us the cup in 83.


To be very frank from the fab 5 my favorite is dada for various reasons. Sachin is sachin he is so perfect making mistakes seldomly , he is god gifted but saurav is like common people, life is full of ups and downs.

He is my idol he inspires me that one can achieve what he dreams of, and even when you are hit it you have confidence in you your time will came and he came back after being kicked out . I remember many arguments I had with non dada supporters regarding his form. My moron friends said that dada only hit centuries against weaker nations like bangladesh and kenya , we defended it by saying that many players take these teams casually and give away their wickets so its an art to hit century agianst weaker cricketing nations also :) .


All of these fab five have given a one memorable moment which we all will remember througout our lives :

Laxman the historic 281 in the famour follow on test. The test which gave us the Indians the
confidence that any thing is possible if you dream.

Kumble bowling with plaster on his head a spirit of a fighter man which inspires many Indians like me is saying never say die.

Ganguly two events shirt waving in lords signalling to the world that we have come and we are not even afraid of our collonial rulers and we are ready to give a fitting reply to any one be it
Australia or England. Another was famous century in Adelaide which gave india the confidence that we can win in Australia. We went on to draw the series 1-1.

Dravid the wall has given us famous double century in Australia in Adelaide where he made 233
highest oversees score by an Indian and gave india a famous win. 270 in Pakistan and many more double centuries. The Wall saved India many times and is truly mr dependable.

Sachin the legend from Perth to Sharjah to thrashing of Shoaib Akhtar list is endless and words are less to define such a genius player.


Perhaps with these players the era of long careers in cricket will end also as 18-20 years long careers in cricket will be hard to imagine now.

The Lord of off will be missed by all of us. 2 stalwarts have gone and now 3 are left and its hard to imagine of a day when we 20-30 years fans will watch the game without these icons who changed the way cricket is being loved in India.








But the big questions is will we be able to watch cricket?. Ya life moves on and great people come and go.

How strange is it that without touching us how much they affect our lives and leave a big mark on our hearts.