You will be missed, Mr. Cricket

Another one goes out of the game. This time again, the loss is not limited to a country but to the entire cricketing world, as one of the most consistent batsman of our era has decided to hang his boots.

I don’t know whether there will be any replacements of Mike Hussey in world cricket or not. But I can assure you that becoming as successful as Hussey will be an extremely difficult task for this young cricketing generation. Hussey was made to prove himself too many times before he arrived at the door of International cricket at the age of 30. He played 11 first-class seasons and scored more than 15,000 runs before being selected for his first Test. But once he came, he never looked back. In just 7 years of his career, he became the 12th highest run-getter for Australia of all times with a terrific batting average of 50 including 19 centuries, which itself tells the whole story. He steadied Australian innings many a times and pulled them out of trouble whenever the chips were down.

In my opinion, he is even harder to replace than Ricky Ponting, as he saw the transition from a group of world champions to a team that was fallible. Unlike Ponting, who endured a string of poor performances before calling it quits, Hussey has averaged 79 this summer, including three centuries, which is ample evidence to show that he is leaving while still being at the top of his game. He was really a mixture of efficiency, excellence, adaptability, modesty, selflessness and a lot more.

I will definitely miss him and so will the cricketing world. He always did what was needed most urgently at that time. He was a sort of person who always wore the Australian cap with utmost pride, every time he went on to the field.

And in Hussey’s words, when he was asked what does he feel about retirement and how he wants the world to remember him, Hussey said: “As someone who loved the game, who was a team man. Someone who was passionate about the game, prepared very well and gave his all for his country”.

He was a great ambassador of this game in all formats. No one can forget his positive attitude and smiling face on the field. Hats off to the legend and may God send some more Husseys for the betterment of the game. He will always be one of my favourite players of all time! Again, thanks for being a really wonderful player and a great human being. You shall be missed, Mr. Cricket!