The small wonders - Childhood images of some famous cricketers

We get to see cricketers plying their trade only when they reach the higher levels of the game, often forgetting the amount of hard work they put in during their younger days to get where they eventually did. The reason for only a very few cricketers being able to reach the top-most level is the single-minded focus they all have in wanting to realize their ambition of being a cricketer. Here are a few cricketers during their childhood who went on to do rather well at the highest level:

#15 Ajinkya Rahane

The kind of batsman who can mould his game according to the need of the situation, Ajinkya Rahane has established himself as one of the most dependable batsmen in the current Indian line-up. Possessing a sound temperament and a solid technique, Rahane has grown from strength to strength as a batsman over five years of international cricket.

#14 Brett Lee

Brett Lee, for a period of time, was without doubt the fastest bowler in the world. Possessing a smooth, rhythmic action, his pace and aggression troubled the best batsmen of his time. He finished his Test career as Australia’s 4th highest wicket-taker with 310 Test wickets for Australia from 76 Tests. He could have taken plenty more, but a plethora of injuries over his international career eventually took their toll, and he announced his international retirement in July 2012.

#13 Andrew Strauss

Andrew Strauss made his Test match debut for England against New Zealand in 2004 at a relatively late age of 27. But he didn’t look back once he got his chance, making 112 and 83 in his very first game.

Apart from playing 100 Tests and averaging 40.91 with the bat, he also had the distinction of being England Test captain when they climbed to No.1 in the ICC Test rankings.

#12 Daniel Vettori

The fact that Daniel Vettori is one of only three cricketers to have scored 4000+ Test runs and 350+ test wickets reflects the massive contribution Vettori has made to New Zealand cricket over the last 15 years. He also picked 305 wickets in ODI cricket in addition to scoring more than 2000 runs.

#11 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh has gone through many ups and downs in his life. None more so than being diagnosed with cancer just a few months after playing a critical role in India winning the 2011 ICC 50-over World Cup. He is a flamboyant cricketer capable of taking on the best bowlers when in full flow, but his major issue has been in achieving consistency in his game.

#10 MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni’s career has been on an upward curve ever since his debut in 2004. Entrusted with captaincy duties in 2007, he took to it like a duck to water by winning the World T20. Since then, he has won the 50-over World Cup, Champions Trophy apart from winning the IPL and Champions League T20 with Chennai Super Kings, not to forget taking India to No.1 in the ICC Test rankings. He might have retired from the longest format, but his legacy will stay forever.

#9 Alastair Cook

Since having made his debut against India in 2006, Alastair Cook has grown from strength to strength, steadily overtaking major milestones as he got better with each passing year. At 31, he has more than 10,000 runs and 30 Test centuries.

#8 Virat Kohli

His rich run of form in the last few years has catapulted Virat Kohli over his international contemporaries, as far as limited overs cricket is concerned. Possessing an amazing hunger to score runs, Kohli refuses to slow down and is set to become an all-time great of the game.

#7 Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting will arguably go down in history as Australia’s best batsman after Don Bradman. He ended his distinguished Australian career as their leading run-scorer in both Test and ODI cricket, scoring more than 13000 runs in each. He also captained Australia in two successful World Cup campaigns in 2003 and 2007.

#6 Steve and Mark Waugh

Twins Steve and Mark Waugh were born just four minutes apart from each other, yet their cricketing style couldn’t have been more different. Steve was a dogged, gutsy batsman, who would battle hard for each run and never throw his wicket away, whereas Mark was extremely languid in his strokeplay making him a pleasing batsman to watch.

#5 Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag has probably created the most impact in Indian cricket in the last decade. He not only scored massive hundreds and double hundreds, but did them at breathtaking pace, often giving the team lots of time to win Test matches. He is the only Indian to have scored a triple century in Test cricket and held the record for highest score in ODI cricket before Rohit Sharma’s double ton.

#4 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly retired from international cricket in 2008 after making his Test debut for India back in 1996. While he made 11363 runs in ODIs and more than 7000 in Tests, his biggest contribution to Indian cricket was as a captain, giving the team belief that they can compete away from home.

#3 Shane Warne

There is not a shred of doubt that Shane Warne is the greatest leg-spinner the game has ever seen. Blessed with natural flair and an astute cricketing brain, he played 145 Tests for Australia, picking up 708 Test wickets, second only to Sri Lankan wizard Muttiah Muralitharan.

#2 Rahul Dravid

While Rahul Dravid perhaps wasn’t oozing with talent as a junior cricketer, what he did have was a sound temperament that helped him a great deal in forging the kind of career that he did. He finished his career with 13,288 runs in Test cricket at an average of 52.31 with 36 Test centuries, not to mention the 10000+ runs that he racked up in ODI cricket.

#1 Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar was earmarked by many to be a future great even when he was in his teens. A career spanning 24 years saw the Mumbaikar amass more than 35000 international runs, including 100 centuries.