Credit: BCCI
There have been tremendous cricketers who have made runs when they are young and immediately fired upon having been picked for national represenation. The young, determined and fiery ones tend to make the most headlines, don't they?
But then there's also an under-appreciated element of longevity in the great game of cricket that tends to lean towards its strongest pursuants, some quality cricketers who just keep going on and on, for being tirelss comes as natrually to them as does fast driving to a Formula 1 driver.
Having said that, which cricketers have actually made most runs after turning 35, an age where some often retire or face a decline in form and hence, performance?
1. Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
For someone who became a Test captain at 36, scored 2,800+ runs post-35, there's an element of calmness and grit about Misbah-ul-Haq that so often goes uncelebrated or under-appreicated. Does it not?
There's a lot that one gets to hear and probably all the time about some of Misbah's more audacious and popular colleagues or countrymen but maybe that kind of respect is something he must too deserve, but still doesn't.
The scorer of many slow knocks that tested the patience of world's best bowlers during his time, Misbah's defensive game was built on the tedium of undergoing rigor and he seldom shied away from it.
2. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
Even post-35, he amassed over 2,400 runs, and this incredible feat also includes his historic 100th international century. That one came versus Bangladesh.
The god of cricket, the batting maestro, the little genius and the nicknames and sobriquets of respect are ceaseless in the case of this one cricketer who captivated fans around the world for as long as he played and still does, years after retiring.
The key to Sachin Tendulkar's success, it ought to be discussed, was his longevity.
We remember the runs he made, but not the respectable degree of fitness that allowed Sachin to take his game deep into his career, retiring not before 40. Let that number sink in.
Just how many cricketers do we note to have played and excelled while playing at that age?
3. Graham Gooch (England)
Here was a dogged right hander, for whom, it could be said, the concept of age was just a number. And practically speaking, it didn't exist!
Sir Gooch scored almost 3,000 Test runs after turning 35 years of age, including a marathon 333.
A triple century is always special, irrespective of what stage of one's career does it happen, isn't it
4. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (West Indies)
The crab-like genius ground over 3,000 runs past 35, defying age with gritty consistency.
There's a bit of a controversy that still remains relevant in some quarters of West Indies cricket with many believing that the Lara fans or the Lara-lobby didn't want Shiv Chanderpaul to break his Test run tally and hence created situations where the dogged left hander from Guyana's Unity Village was forced into retirement.
But truth certainly is that Shiv himself has laughed it off and Lara himself has a huge regard for his one time batting partner. In fact, when Lara made his famed 375, the man at the other end was Chanderpaul.
The left hander's grit and ability to focus for long periods of time and bat rather uncannily made his oppnents' skin crawl.
He was the living testimony to the fact that for as long as one had the desire to persevere, flamboyance as a batting skill wasn't always needed.
5. Younis Khan (Pakistan)
He averaged better with age, didn't he Younish Khan, who ended up scoring 3,000+ Test runs along with 10 centuries post-35.
A great cricketer, someone who was as technically correct as a frontline batter for Pakistan as he was calm under duress.
6. Rahul Dravid (India)
The man, the legend, the icon and the saviour of Indian team under moments of pressure; there'll always be cricketers whom you could like more than Rahul Dravid, but none will deserve more respect than this silent hero of India. The batman of India with the bat in hand.
You could be anyone or of any age but if you haven't seen Dravid scoring those 461 runs in England in an unceremonious drubbing of 2011, then what have you even watched?
In that series, he opened the batting, kept wickets too, and once, came to play twice inside the space of a single day after India had to face the ignominy of a follow-on and never complained. Such was his level of seflesness. Such cricketers with Dravid-like genome or DNA are gone now. Aren't they?
The Wall stood tall even at 38, scoring 2,500+ runs in Tests after turning 35 years of age.
Not only did these talents prove that class and composure in the middle can outlast time, but also that true athletecism doesn't really have to be dependent on one's age. The longer one is willing to excel and perform to full capacity, the longer can one score and contribute to his team's fortunes. And truth be told, all of these exceptional cricketers made it last for long, contributing everything to the team's glory.
