There are cricketers who always had records and averages in their mind. You need not be rocket scientist to tell which of the cricketers gave more importance to records. There are some so called great cricketers or legends who always play for records. Even if you are a novice cricketer watcher, you know which cricketers I am talking about. There are some other cricketers who might play for records, but do not appear like playing for records. Similarly there are those cricketers to whom records does not mean anything. Let us talk about some of these cricketers from the recent past and from present who did not play for records.
1. Imran Khan: Imran Khan is one of those rare breed of cricketers to whom records did not mean anything. He would try very hard at everything to give his best, but never in his career he focused on his records. What all mattered to Imran Khan was a great performance and a victory for his team. He famously declared an innings when Javed Miandad was batting on 280. I have never seen Imran Khan talking about a player in terms of records. Whenever he talks about a great cricketer he has his own way of evaluating.
2. Adam Gilchrist: Adam Gilchrist retired after he played his 96th test match. Many cricketers want to play their 100th test match and consider it a big achievement. Adam Gilchrist could have easily played those four test matches to complete a century of the test matches, and he could have then retired. But he retired after his 96 test matches as he thought his time was up. In the recent past some great cricketers have dragged their career for achieving some milestones.
3. Mohammad Azharuddin: Mohammad Azharuddin is one of few Indian cricketers who did not play for records. Azhar never changed his batting style irrespective of whether he was playing in 10s or 90s. He always played according to the requirement of the team and demand of the situation. In fact, on many occasion when the target was easy and the situation was good, Azharuddin promoted other batsmen in his own batting place. He could have easily added to his tally by persisting with himself.
4. Ricky Ponting: Among the great modern batsmen apart from Gilchrist if one has to pick a batsman who least cared for the batting records, it has to be Ricky Ponting. The only thing that seems to be on his mind is the team situation. I saw him getting run out on many occasions in 70s or 80s. If he ever played for 100s he would have never taken those risky singles that denied him those well deserved 100s, especially when the records are at stakes.
5. Arjuna Ranatunga: If you watch Arjuna playing, you will notice that only thing in his mind is his team situation. He batted just for the cause of the team. Every run he scored looked like he was scoring keeping the scoreboard in mind rather than his personal milestones like 50 and 100s. The milestones did not occupy his mind or may be he was not capable enough to achieving significant milestones.
6. Saeed Anwar: I have watched Saeed Anwar very closely as I did watch many other modern cricketers. Milestones meant really little to Saeed Anwar. He was the one who used to complete his 100s and 50s with a six. Most of his 100s have come off a six. He tried to hit a six when on 194 to complete his double century and was caught near the boundary rope. He had another five overs to go in order to complete that double hundred in one day International and he would have become the first man in the history of the game to have scored a double hundred in one day International. He chose to complete the double hundred with his trademark six and got out in the process.
7. Vivian Richards: From whatever I have watched of Vivian Richards, I get the impression that he too did not have records in mind when he played. He was bang bang all the time. I have not watched a lot of Vivian Richards to make a strong judgement that he did not play for records, but whatever I have seen of him, he did not seem to care for records either.
8. Mahender Singh Dhoni: In the current Indian team Dhoni seems to be the one who gave least importance to records followed by Yuvraj and Sehwag. I have seen Dhoni adopting and adjusting his game to the needs of the team and moving around in the batting order.
1. Imran Khan: Imran Khan is one of those rare breed of cricketers to whom records did not mean anything. He would try very hard at everything to give his best, but never in his career he focused on his records. What all mattered to Imran Khan was a great performance and a victory for his team. He famously declared an innings when Javed Miandad was batting on 280. I have never seen Imran Khan talking about a player in terms of records. Whenever he talks about a great cricketer he has his own way of evaluating.
2. Adam Gilchrist: Adam Gilchrist retired after he played his 96th test match. Many cricketers want to play their 100th test match and consider it a big achievement. Adam Gilchrist could have easily played those four test matches to complete a century of the test matches, and he could have then retired. But he retired after his 96 test matches as he thought his time was up. In the recent past some great cricketers have dragged their career for achieving some milestones.
3. Mohammad Azharuddin: Mohammad Azharuddin is one of few Indian cricketers who did not play for records. Azhar never changed his batting style irrespective of whether he was playing in 10s or 90s. He always played according to the requirement of the team and demand of the situation. In fact, on many occasion when the target was easy and the situation was good, Azharuddin promoted other batsmen in his own batting place. He could have easily added to his tally by persisting with himself.
4. Ricky Ponting: Among the great modern batsmen apart from Gilchrist if one has to pick a batsman who least cared for the batting records, it has to be Ricky Ponting. The only thing that seems to be on his mind is the team situation. I saw him getting run out on many occasions in 70s or 80s. If he ever played for 100s he would have never taken those risky singles that denied him those well deserved 100s, especially when the records are at stakes.
5. Arjuna Ranatunga: If you watch Arjuna playing, you will notice that only thing in his mind is his team situation. He batted just for the cause of the team. Every run he scored looked like he was scoring keeping the scoreboard in mind rather than his personal milestones like 50 and 100s. The milestones did not occupy his mind or may be he was not capable enough to achieving significant milestones.
6. Saeed Anwar: I have watched Saeed Anwar very closely as I did watch many other modern cricketers. Milestones meant really little to Saeed Anwar. He was the one who used to complete his 100s and 50s with a six. Most of his 100s have come off a six. He tried to hit a six when on 194 to complete his double century and was caught near the boundary rope. He had another five overs to go in order to complete that double hundred in one day International and he would have become the first man in the history of the game to have scored a double hundred in one day International. He chose to complete the double hundred with his trademark six and got out in the process.
7. Vivian Richards: From whatever I have watched of Vivian Richards, I get the impression that he too did not have records in mind when he played. He was bang bang all the time. I have not watched a lot of Vivian Richards to make a strong judgement that he did not play for records, but whatever I have seen of him, he did not seem to care for records either.
8. Mahender Singh Dhoni: In the current Indian team Dhoni seems to be the one who gave least importance to records followed by Yuvraj and Sehwag. I have seen Dhoni adopting and adjusting his game to the needs of the team and moving around in the batting order.
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