Sir Garfield Sobers — The greatest is no more and you feel a sense of void

 

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Boria Majumdar, London

Sir Garfield Sobers will always be ranked as the greatest cricket player to have played the game. I was fortunate to have met him twice, thanks to Sir Hilary Beckles. The first was during the 2010 Frank Worrell Lecture, which I had the privilege of delivering. Sir Garry was kind enough to grace the occasion and may I say it was an absolute honour to speak to a packed audience, which included the legend. At the end of the lecture, Sir Hilary introduced the two of us and Sir Garry’s words still ring true in my ears, “You have to love the game to live the game. Only then can you do justice to your writing,” he had said.

The second time was not a meeting per se. He was there at an event celebrating Brian Lara and we happened to sit on the same table for dinner. Yet again, it was an honour and a privilege.

So how good was Sir Garry? One anecdote from the great Sunil Gavaskar should suffice. Commenting on India’s 1971 victory against the West Indies, Sunny bhai had said: “It was Arthur Barrett who was trying to bowl a googly. It was too short and fell halfway down the pitch. I went back and pulled it over midwicket for a one-bounce boundary to win us the game. It was unbelievable! Then, walking back and Garry Sobers shaking hands with you — I never thought I would be within hand-shaking distance of Sir Garfield, the greatest ever! And here I was playing against Sir Garfield Sobers . An absolute dream come true it was.”.

World cricket is poorer without Sir Garry. Some people are irreplaceable. Sir Garry was one such and for anyone who follows the history of the game, it is one of those days when you feel a sense of void. The greatest is no more. The sport has lost one of its best devotees.

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