6 Greatest Mitchell Johnson moments

Queensland’s fresh bowlerThere comes a time in life when the people around you start fading or changing. Death and change are two of the only constants in life; nothing can ever change that. A seed doesn’t remain a seed; it turns into a plant and then bites the dust when the time comes.When Mitchell Johnson came into the scene, he was like a seed with bags of potential. A seed that could sprout at an insane speed, but now without hiccups.As a 17-year old playing for Queensland, he was already bowling at a quicker pace than his seniors at the first-team. Then coach, Brett Mortimer, knew that he was special. But whether or not his temperament would allow him to reach his potential, he could not tell.Ultimately, after an international career that spanned over 10 years, one could say that he was somewhat of an enigma; a confidence player. When he had the belief, he was someone who could rip to shreds the best batting line-up in the world like a tempest menacing houses when, but when he didn’t, he was someone who could look like a fraud, a con artist of his own best version.And like every enigma, he was not without his moments. And here are some moments which will forever resemble the Mitchell Johnson…

#1 Barmy Army chant

Like mentioned earlier, Mitchell Johnson had his off-days. And, quite frankly, it was embarrassing. At times, fans were left in wonder as to how he became professional bowler even. He bowls on the left, he bowls on the right…he bowls waywardly all over the place.

And this is what earned him a famous chant from the Barmy Army - a group of supporters of the English cricket team that held absolutely nothing back when it came to bringing the opposition down by their ferocity.

“He bowls on the left, he bowls on the right… He is Mitchell Johnson, and he is shite,” sang the Barmy Army as Johnson endured one of his worst career patch in the 2009 Ashes - a series where he supposed to be Australia’s greatest hope.

But, as it turned out, he became their greatest embarrassment.

A few years later, the pacey Australian admitted to being further weakened by the chants at a time when he and his mother were at somewhat of a crossroad in their relationship. Certainly not one of his glorious moments, but a moment regardless.

#2 Stare at Jimmy Anderson

This was the series where he showed the world how to make a comeback and that too in a grand style. In a spell of 24 balls, he conceded 12 runs and got 5 wickets in the process, leaving English batsmen clueless about what actually hit them.

One of those wickets was of James Anderson.

Mitchell Johnson and Anderson have shared a long-standing fast bowler’s rivalry between them and when the Australian uprooted his middle stump to get his wicket, one would have expected the left-arm pacer to run all around the park while shouting his lungs off.

Instead, he did something better. He threw a deadly stare in the way on the Englishman - a stare-case to hell. The stare was so cold, so brutal that one cold make a Quentin Tarantino movie from it itself. It could be safe to say that remembering the stare induces a chilly feeling down the spine of Anderson to this day.

#3 Vowing to sledge India

Australians have always been known for their superiority in playing skills over the years. There was a time when beating them was harder than gaining access to the Pentagon. At that particular time, they developed another skill that set them further apart from the rest.

Sledging the heck out of opponents.

If skills didn’t dent them, then verbal attacks certainly did. It was a terrific combination of cricketing and verbal flare that made the Aussies invincible. Not much has changed ever since, though, as they are still renowned for their blazing venom-spitting tongues.

So when David Warner pledged to not sledge (rhyming attempt fail no. 1) the Indian cricket team in their semi-final encounter, Mitchell Johnson rose to the occasion and vowed to make life difficult for the Indians not only with his bowling but also his mouth.

“I heard Davy said he wasn’t going to get involved in all that stuff. Someone’s got to do it and I might put my hand up. It’s a part of the game and what happened between Shane [Watson] and Wahab [Riaz] was exceptional. I thought it was great entertainment and I think you are going to see more entertainment in this game."

#4 Fight against Kevin Pietersen

One of the untold rules of cricket, which mainly applies to England and Australia, is that to be considered a legend for the aforementioned 2 countries, one has to stamp his name in the pages of the Ashes. And, while doing so, if you have a verbal spat with your rival, you name echoes in the walls of eternity.

So when Kevin Pietersen retreated from his batting stance on more than one occasion, thanks to a toddler playing around the sightscreen, it didn’t go down well with the Australian.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, so goes the saying. Kevin Pietersen must also have felt the same when Mitchell Johnson unleashed a furious verbal assault on the Englishman. Later, he refused to apologise for his virulence-spewing wrath because he didn’t think he went too far with his anger.

According to him, “I did find out later that there was a little kid crawling across the sightscreen, but have a look at the size of the sightscreens, they are pretty big here. If you are not watching the game, and you are too busy watching the crowd, then I think it was warranted.”

#5 7-40 against England

Kevin Pietersen once, famously, claimed that the England batsmen were scared of Mitchell Johnson’s blistering exhibition of pace bowling. And this spell was one of the biggest reasons for that.

Johnson made a mockery of himself in the Ashes series of 2009 and not many people expected him to do well - and that included his own Aussie fans as well. However, he was completely different beast altogether in 2013 and the Australian selectors were convinced enough to pick him for Tests after a vehement display in 50-over internationals.

And, man, oh man, were they not repaid their faith.

It could be described as one of the greatest comebacks to Test cricket bowling spell from the Australian. He absolutely desecrated the English batting line up at the Adelaide Oval, ending up with magical figures of 7-40.

The Barmy Army weren’t singing anymore. Johnson’s deliveries were.

#6 96* vs South Africa

Mitchell Johnson was not all about bowling. There were glimpses, moments, that makes wonder what an all-rounder he could have been had he reached his utmost potential.

Once again, a glimpse of that - his bloody best - could be seen in Australia’s tour to South Africa in 2009. Not only was he quick, he was also swinging the ball at insane pace and he was deemed as almost unplayable by many sections of the media.

However, it wasn’t only with the ball that he did magic in South Africa as he scored a rocking 96* in the first Test of the series and only missed out on the 100 because the tail couldn’t endure a little more.

In one of the overs, he showed his hitting prowess as he smacked 2 fours and 3 sixes off a Paul Harris over - breaking the record for the most number of runs taken in a single over in Tests by an Aussie.

He was a much better batsman than many give him credit for, and this innings showed just that.

Adios, Mitchell. Thy genius, and the intricacies that came with it shall be missed.