Published: Jul 04, 2015, 07:29 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 04, 2015, 07:29 PM (IST)
After years of fighting recurring knee injuries, Ryan Harris finally gave up the fight and called curtains on his erratic but exciting career. Boasting an ODI average of 18 and Test average of 23, Harris could have probably gone on to take a whole lot more wickets than his 113 off 27 Tests, but injury has taken the better of him, leaving him with amazing averages but too small a sample size to be clubbed with the ultimate greats of the game. Rishad D’souza has a look at three other impressive fast bowlers of the 21st century that were robbed of potential greatness by recurring injury.
1.) Shane Bond: Shane Bond‘s career spanned about 8-9 years, before he retired due to recurring injury. He averaged a breathtaking 20 in ODIs and just two more than that in Tests. Unfortunately even during his relatively short career span, Bond was often out of the team nursing injury. He had the capability to produce devastating spells, but injury released its stranglehold on the New Zealander enough for him to feature in only 18 Tests and 80 odd ODIs. Ryan Harris retires: A look at Rhino’s career
2.) Shoaib Akhtar: The Rawalpindi express is famous for clocking 161 kmph once which still stands as the fastest ever delivery recorded in a recognised match. However, his extraordinary run up to generate that pace took a toll on his health forcing him to quit Tests at 31. In a test career that lasted 10 years, Akhtar managed to play 46 Tests, in which he averaged 26. He fought through injury to prolong his limited overs career and played 163 ODIs in which he averaged 25. Ryan Harris: First fast bowler to take 100 Test wickets making debut after 30
3.) Lasith Malinga: The bowler most well known for his trademark golden hairlocks and toe crushing yorkers in limited overs cricket could have also been a great Test match weapon for Sri Lanka. Unfortunately a knee injury forced him into Test cricket retirement at the age of just 26. While his average of 33 in the Test format isn’t most impressive, he certainly had the ability to better that if he had a longer run. He continues to play ODIs and T20Is for Sri Lanka and also plies his trade in T20 leagues across the world. He remains highly effective in those formats even though injury still knocks at his door often.
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RDcric on Twitter)
