Mitchell Johnson's last stand - A salute to the personification of arrogance
On a sunny Tuesday morning, in front of a partially filled WACA stadium, a man walks out to bat for one last time in International cricket. The ‘nice men’ Kiwis line up to give him a guard of honor as the stadium stands up to salute the legendary speedster. A few good words are exchanged with the Kiwis’ captain Brendon McCullum as well.
So much love and respect on display (even from the opposition) for this mean, in-your-face arrogant cricketer. This picture speaks volumes about how far performances can go to decide the greatness of a person in spite of his rather spiteful demeanor on the field.
Off the field, he is everything that he isn’t on the field. His humility showed through when he said he could not believe that he was the 4th highest wicket-taker for his country. He shies away from media attention and is soft spoken as such. It is the character of Mitchell off the field and the great performer on the field that is being celebrated today.
Having announced his entry to List A level with a brilliant 4/37 against Tasmania on 25th October 2003, he delivered many such performances with consistency, which was adequate enough to get the International ticket in 2005. He had to wait for two games before he could represent his nation for the first time. Australia had already won the 3-match series against New Zealand when Mitchell got his chance to display to the world what he could do.
However, it turned out to be a day that he would like to forget, for he was milked for 64 runs at an economy of 7.11 as the Kiwis chased down a mammoth target of 331.
But he quickly let that day alone as he started producing results with improving pace. Two years down the line, he had earned his baggy green and kick-started his Test career with match figures of 4/96 against Sri Lanka at Brisbane.
Mitchell’s overall Test career can be termed as hot and cold to an extent. He started losing his consistency and form by 2009, owing to injuries. Experts blamed all that on the start-stop action which was putting too much pressure on his hamstring.
He was eventually dropped in 2013, never to return through the entire season. While his domestic performances remained unremarkable, his time with the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2014 saw his renaissance of sorts. He returned to the squad for the Ashes 2014, much to the open mocking of the British media. The handlebar mustached Mitchell ran over the English batting over and over again throughout the series, ending up with 37 wickets.
He left the English team sleepless, clueless and even forced a strong-headed Jonathan Trott into a sabbatical from which he never could recover. Such is the nightmare that this machine gun can cause to the batsmen facing him.
The causes for his comeback were not just physical but also mental. He made no changes to his bowling action, as suggested by many. The same Johnson, who agreed about having been intimidated by the Barmy Army in 2011-12 Ashes, made a statement that the same guys gave him more confidence while scalping 37 wickets.
He continued to play with the minds of batsmen across the globe through the next season before his fire started dropping heat. The same people who applauded his death stares and arrogance a year and a half back, now called for his head in the 2015 ashes. Having retired from One Day Internationals after the 2015 World Cup, he must have found it harder to keep up his rhythm and fitness levels for the few tests spread through a year and maybe that could have triggered his retirement from Tests as well.
If you were a batsman facing Mitchell, you had to be wary of a few things. He would bowl steep bouncers, hit your ribs, follow it up with a spearing toe-cruncher, stare at you long and hard, exchange a few words about your batting skills, smile wide when you play and miss and laugh when he striked.
Why Mitchell has earned the tag of a legend
If you drove him straight, he’d stop the ball from getting away and throw it back at you (ask Virat Kohli). He has been a menace to batsmen across the globe. If you play him well, that’s enough to show your prowess as a batsman (and as a survivor, ask the English camp). That is exactly why the six consecutive boundaries that Dilshan scored against Mitchell in the 2011 World Cup has received more appreciation than any other such feat.
Mitchell Johnson is a true legend. Not many earn that tag in a span of 9 active years in International cricket. Such is the thumping impact of his spiteful deliveries. Any cricket fan would associate his name to torturing batsmen with sheer pace and arrogance. Today, on his last day in International cricket, the stands ,that were close to empty at the start of play, are now almost full on a weekday afternoon.
And everyone out there is behind him, applauding every delivery, which shows the respect he has earned. Tweets from all over the world are wishing him luck in his future endeavors. And surely, all 587 of his victims have nothing but respect for this 34 year old sturdy pacer. He is a professional and a complete team man, which explains his decision to retire with immediate effect without extending his career by even a single test.
With the next test being the first international day-night test ever, batsmen’s ability to play Mitchell’s steaming deliveries would have served as the perfect test for the usefulness of pink balls. But well, it wasn’t meant to be.
Here’s a cricket fan from India saluting an Australian legend on his outstanding cricketing journey. It has been a pleasure watching you send wickets cartwheeling from time to time. Go well, Mitch!