Sporting teams do everything together: train, travel, play, strategise and so on. Yet it is amazing how an individual can mean so much, particularly to a cricket team.
We have seen all-time cricketing greats in recent times and the game still features stars who have played over a decade of cricket, some even two decades.
Some players have phenomenal impact on a team and there is an understanding – as well as statistics to back it up – that losing one person in a team can have an enormous impact, whether that be through injury or through retirement.
Right now, the most glaring example of this is Jacques Kallis for South Africa.
Many people questioned how much impact Kallis’ retirement would have on South African cricket, but without the rock in their batting line-up and breakthrough man in the bowling they look fragile.
This is the sort of player whose absence can really affect a team when they retire. Their experience, on-field performance and mere presence are missed in a team, and it hurts them badly.
South Africa played down the loss of Kallis, saying that while they would miss him they would be able to do well. While I thought his loss would hurt, I did not believe it would affect them as much as it seems.
In the first Test against Australia at Centurion, the rock they had to rely on was AB de Villiers. He did a promising job among a rabble of a team, but he still could not quite get on top.
This is something a man like Kallis could enforce and push on.
Sachin Tendulkar is another such player who, simply through his performances, amazed cricket fans from all nations for two decades.
Now he has gone off into the sunset and India have not won a Test match since his departure. Whether it his knowledge or his performance or simply his essence and person being present in the team, he has been a major loss to Indian cricket.
Australia have numerous players who are significant to them. Right now, if we lost Mitchell Johnson it would break our morale and rob us of our main strike bowler. He is currently the heart of our team.
Shane Warne used to be the most important man in our team through the glory days as he could almost always be relied upon to take a match and turn it Australia’s way. He was a magnificent cricketer and it is no surprise that after his departure, and that of others, we fell from grace.
Since Ricky Ponting’s retirement our batting line-up has never been concrete.
He was a man who (at least until the tail-end of his career) could be relied upon to stand up when required. If we needed to get some quick runs, he was there.
Some players, like Kallis for South Africa, are both influential on their teammates and crucial to their team’s success.
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