This post is a tribute to Five Cricketers who had the courage to battle it out in the 22 yard pitch even after they suffered deadly blows in their body.

1) The man who face 17 balls with a broken finger

Jan 2009 - South Africa was playing against Australia at the SCG. South Africa needed 376 runs to win in the second innings. With 35 runs on the board, Graeme Smith received a deadly blow on his left hand finger and had a fracture. He retired hurt. Soon South Africa lost wickets at regular interval and were stuttering at 257 for 8. Australia just needed one more wicket to win the match because Graem Smith had already retired hurt. Soon they took the 9th wicket too. Just when everyone got up to celebrate an Aussie victory, the unthinkable happened. Graeme Smith walked on to the middle and took guard with one hand.  Even the Aussie supporters stood up on their feet and cheered the brave Smith as he walked in. He had to survive 8 overs to draw the test. He took blow after blow and he faced 17 balls like a warrior. Finally he succumbed and Australia won. But Graeme Smith became the Hero of the match. Check this video



2)  The Broken Jaw bowler

In the year 2001, India was playing against West Indies. Anil Kumble was one of the finest medium pacers of the word. His leg break balls were a treat to watch. Some say that he is a leg spinner. But that is a topic that will be debate for centuries to come. In that match, Kumble received a nasty blow on his jaw from a Merv Dillon bouncer. He had to retire hurt. Watch that nasty ball here



When West Indies batted, the unthinkable happened. Kumble took the field. His face was bandaged. It was a sorry sight to see. He could not move his jaw and he could not appeal too. But he bowled his heart out and even got the wicket of the mighty Brian Lara.


3. Late Marshall's one hand four

Anil Kumble is a decent enough batsman who has got a test century to his credit. Graeme Smith is a class act. But the man I am gonna write about now is not known for his batting skills. He was dangerous with the ball. He was short; but had a fiery pace. The late Malcolm Marshall who is not with us now played one of the bravest innings in cricket. Batting with one, hand, this genius even scored a four. Check this rare video here




4. Malik's batting with a sling hand

Salim Malik has tormented spinners at his prime. He has had his lows with match fixing. Let us not get there. The Pakistanis were facing the Caribbean storm in that match. Curtly Ambrose who can make any batsman to pee in the groin guard was pounding balls at the batsman. Salim Malik suffered a fracture in his left hand. At the fall of the the 9th wicket, Salim Malik walked in as the 11th batsman with his left hand in a sling. He faced his first ball with the stance of a left hander so that his left hand is not exposed to the fast bowling attack of the West Indians. He face the deadly Ambrose. He later changed his stance and enabled Wasim Akram to score his first test 50.


5. Chronicwriter's batting with a bruised back.

When Chronicwriter was in class 12 (He was 17 years old). Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also in class 12 in Jharkhand. Chronicwriter was scared of his Maths teacher - Mr Arulanandam. When Mr Arulanandam asked any questions on Mathematical formula, Chronicwriter would literally pee in his pants and would forget the answer. On one such occasion, Chronicwriter's butt was pampered to glory by Mr Arulanandam with a cane. The stripes on his butt exposed the brutality of Arulanandam's arrogance. That afternoon, Chronicwriter participated in a book cricket competition with his classmates Jaffer, Suhail and Shine. He even went on to score a century. There is no video evidence of that brave batting because there were no mobile phones during that time to capture that brave act.

- Chronicwriter