Related Links : Adam Gilchrist : India’s Tour of Australia 2007/08
One of the most dangerous batsmen ever to walk out on a cricket pitch and the leading wicket keeper in Test Cricket, Adam Gilchrist has made a shocking retirement announcement. Gilchrist said that this Adelaide Test was the last of his career. He is going to quit cricket totally once he is done with the upcoming CB Tri Series.
The 36-year-old Gilchrist with this decision to retire will end up four Tests short of a 100! It was only in this ongoing Test Match that he created a new world record of getting the most dismissals (414 as of date) for a wicket keeper. Adam Gilchrist who has maintained extremely high standards throughout his career started to drop some elementary catches and missed some stumpings in this series against India. He didn’t even fire with the bat as he was doing ever since his debut in 1999. Gilchrist although has been one of the most talented human to ever play cricket had to settle with a career that has lasted only 12 years because of another great Ian Healy, who kept him waiting for a long time. Gilly stepped into the International Circuit during the Titan Cup in India in 1996.
The Western Australian Cricketer only knew one way of batting style and that was to attack whether it is One Day Cricket or Test Cricket. It didn’t matter for Gilly as he maintained an amazing strike rate of over 80 runs per 100 balls even in Test Cricket despite playing in as many as 96 Tests! He has got 17 hundreds and 26 fifties in his test career and has atleast one more opportunity in the Adelaide Test to improve on that. In the One Dayers, Gilchrist got 15 hundreds and 53 fifties which includes a whirlwind 149 in 104 balls in the 2007 World Cup Finals! Gilchsirt holds the record of for the second fastest test hundred which came in 57 balls against England in the last Ashes. He missed to equal the overall fastest Test hundred by just one ball which is still held by Viv Richards! Gilly was also the first man to smash 100 sixes in Test Cricket! World Cricket and Australian Cricket will never be the same without Adam Gilchrist. However, Australia have an equally competitive replacement in Brad Haddin, who has enough experience of International Cricket.