Cricket World Cup – Adam Gilchrist
It is the dream of every cricketer to do well in their national colours, especially on the world’s grandest stage. Scoring big in a World Cup final or semifinal would surely multiply your popularity. But Adam Gilchrist chose to do it the other way.
Australia were virtually unstoppable as they stormed into the semifinals of the 2003 World Cup. Their opponents were Sri Lanka, who hadn’t done too badly either. But it was going to be a Herculean task for the Lankans to stop the Australian rampage.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, the Aussies got off to a flier yet again. Gunaratne was plundered for 20 runs in his first 2 overs as Australia raced away to 34/0 in 5 overs. It was desperate times for Sri Lanka and Mahela Jayawardene brought on Aravinda de Silva to bowl his off breaks and stem the scoring and it took only two balls for the old wily fox to strike! Gilchrist’s attempted sweep got a thin inside edge onto his pad and the ball ballooned into the hands of Sangakkara. The Lankans appealed as loud as a flock of wild geese but Rudi Koertzen stood motionless. But Gilchrist, in a rare act of Australian chivalry, decided to walk!
It was an astonishing moment – astonishing because it was the semifinal of a World cup, astonishing because he was an Australian. Australia and unsporting behavior had gone hand in hand since the existence of cricket. But Gilchrist chose to disprove the theory and put aside individual glory to go home with a clear conscience.
Gilchrist’s decision to walk had no bearing on the result of the game as Australia went on to win comfortably. But the game will always be remembered for Gilchrist’s sporting act and where his popularity meter went up a few notches despite scoring only a few.
Tags: Adam Gilchrist, Aravinda de Silva, Australia, Cricket, Cricket World Cup, ICC Cricket World Cup, Rudi Koertzen, Sporting Act, Sports, Sri Lanka
