In memoriam: Sporting icons who left exceptional legacies!

Though the dreaded 2020 is finally coming to an end, the coronavirus pandemic has turned everyone's life into chaos. It has not spared anyone. Similarly, the sporting world also witnessed painful losses. In an athlete's life, there are many ups and downs. A year either turns out to be remarkable or forgettable for them. They reach new heights, they suffer injuries, the performances are not up to the mark. However, what makes the year 2020 unforgettable, for wrong reasons, like the one in which most of the sporting events were either cancelled or postponed due to a pandemic that ravaged all schedules and brought the whole world to a grinding halt.

 

 

From the legendary Balbir Singh Jr to former India football captain PK Banerjee, from Dean Jones to Kobe Bryant...the losses will be hard to fill. As we are entering into 2021, a look at the sporting icons who left for heavenly abode.

 

 

 

One of the most heart-wrenching moments for the all-sports fan was felt in early 2020. The popularity of basketball in India could be felt when Kobe Bryant left this world.

 

Also known as the “Black Mamba” (he gave himself the nickname), Kobe Bryant was an NBA legend who spent his entire 20-year career (from 1996 to 2016) at the Los Angeles Lakers. And Bryant was part of LA Lakers’ five glorious NBA titles, three of them consecutive – from 2000 to 2002. A shooting guard, Bryant led the NBA in scoring twice and was third in the NBA's all-time scoring records until LeBron James surpassed him in a game against the Philadelphia 76ers, just a day before the news came in of Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on January 26.

 

Bryant had even tweeted conveying his congratulations to James. That tweet was the last by Bryant. He and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash, along with 7 others while they were on their way to the Mamba Sports Academy in Los Angeles. Bryant is survived by wife Vanessa and the couple's other three daughters: Natalia, 17; Bianka, 3; and Capri, born last June.

 

 

Fans will definitely agree to the fact that if the Dhyan Chand was the hero of the Pre-Independent India, then Balbir Singh Sr is the hero of the post-independence era. He was everywhere when he started playing hockey - off the field as well as on the field to contribute in the Indian Hockey.

 

 

Balbir Singh Sr. represented India in three Olympic games – London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956) – and won the gold medal in all the three editions, having scored 22 goals across the three games. Balbir holds the unique honour of being the flag-bearer to the Indian contingent in two successive Olympics in 1952 and 1956.

Singh also led the Indian team in the inaugural hockey competition of the Asian Games in Tokyo where India earned silver.

 

After contributing to playing, in his late fifties, Singh did not stop in serving the game. He was a coach, manager, selector and administrator. He was manager when India won the World Cup for the first time in Kuala Lumpur in 1975 and the only time so far. Other victories included a gold medal at the 1966 Asian Games, bronze at the 1971 World Cup, bronze at 1982 Champions Trophy.

 

 

However, the most depressing moment of his life came when he was the manager and the team lost the gold medal match to Pakistan in 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. Due to his immense involvement in Hockey Balbir was honoured with Padma Shri in 1957. He came the His autobiography, My Hockey Days, throws light on the many facets of the life and times of this remarkable Olympian.

 

 

People get depressed if things do not go as they had planned it. Similarly, when you are one of the best left-arm spinners in the country but still not picked to play at the international level? Heartbroken. But, Rajinder Goel did not think that way. He was very determined to do what he believes in - cricket. So, he kept bowling at a very high level in Indian domestic cricket.

 

Rajinder Goel came forward when India lacked dependable spin bowlers in the country and only one left-arm spinner was selected to play for India – and that was the greatest of them all – Bishan Singh Bedi.

 

However, he was different. He never felt to give up on his dreams and played at the domestic level. And he picked them in heaps – such big heaps that he went on to become the record-holder for most wickets in the Ranji Trophy – 637. A record that still stands. He played 26 seasons of first-class cricket with the grace of accepting his destiny of not playing for India without ever being bitter about it

 

The closest that Rajinder Goel came to play for India when he selected in the Indian squad during the 1974-75 series against the West Indies but the left-arm spinner was not included in the Indian playing XI.

 

Rajinder Goel breathed his last in Rohtak on June 21 due to age-related illness. He was 77.

 

 

Called as PK da by his legion of fans, he was probably one of the finest footballers India ever produced. Along with his exploits on the football field, what endeared him to the masses was his vast knowledge of history, politics and society.

 

The legendary Indian footballer was an integral part of India's gold medal-winning team in the 1962 Asian Games and even scored in the final against South Korea as India fought against all odds to script a historic 2-1 triumph in Jakarta.

 

Banerjee, who was the first footballer to receive the Arjuna Award (in 1961), represented India in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and played a pivotal role in the 4-2 victory against Australia in the quarter-finals where India eventually finished fourth. Banerjee was also bestowed with the FIFA Fairplay Award (in 1990), and the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit in 2004.

 

The former India football captain PK Banerjee passed away at the age of 83 after a prolonged illness in March.

 

 

Cricket fans are aware of the fact that Ashok Mankad, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, and Sunil Gavaskar had many great opening partners in his glorious Test career. But it was Chetan Chauhan who had the distinction of being Gavaskar’s longest opening partner in Test cricket.

 

Yes, he did not make any century but he was Gavaskar’s longest opening partner largely due to his guts and grit. And the partnership wasn’t just the longest, it was also India’s most successful opening partnership from 1973 to 1981 with more than 3000 runs, including 10-century stands.

 

He made a major contribution in the Indian lineup during the 1970s when he used to open the batting along with Sunil Gavaskar. During his 12-year-long cricket career from 1969 to 1981, the right-handed batsman went on to play 40 Tests, managing to score 2,084 runs at an average of 31.57.

 

Honoured with the Arjuna Award in 1981, Chauhan was twice elected to the Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, in 1991 and 1998. Chauhan also served as the Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) in various capacities - president, vice-president, secretary and chief selector. He succumbed to a Covid-19 infection after suffering from multiple-organ failure at a Gurugram hospital on August 16. Chauhan, a serving Cabinet minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, had contracted the virus on July 12. He was 73.

 

 

People know the story of Yuvraj Singh vomiting during the World Cup 2011 on the field to make matches win for the Indian team. Apart from him, there is one more cricketer who was as passionate as to win matches for the team and the country. He was none other than Dean Jones.

 

He was playing his only his third Test, was suffering from cramps. He had vomited more than once while batting and had to be treated in hospital after the completion of the innings for exhaustion and dehydration. But not before hitting a dogged 210-run knock that enabled the Aussies to declare their first innings at 574/7.

 

It was the most courageous innings on Indian soil in tough batting conditions in the dry Madras heat. That 210-run knock by Jones is still the highest score by an Australian batsman in a Test in India.

 

However, it is unfair to define this knock alone. He was among the first batsmen to revolutionise the one-day game by constantly charging down the pitch and hitting big shots against some of the most fearsome bowlers of his era. Part of Australia’s victorious ODI World Cup campaign in 1987, Jones scored 6068 ODI runs with seven centuries. Jones was also part of Australia’s 1989 Ashes-winning team, scoring 3631 runs with 11 centuries in 52 Tests.

 

Former Australia cricketer Dean Jones passed away due to a cardiac arrest at the age of 59 on September 24 during the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

 

 

One of the greatest footballers of all time, the Argentina star was born in Lanus, a town near Buenos Aires, on October 30, 1960. He started playing football in the streets around his neighbourhood and at the age of twelve, he was part of the children's team Los Cebollitas.

 

The World Cup-winning footballer represented Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla, and Newell's Old Boys as a player. Diego was considered solely responsible for taking Argentina to their second World Cup title in 1986.

 

With the Argentine team, he won the World Cup at Mexico 86, a tournament in which he stood out, above all, in a match against England. He scored two goals, including one with his hand which went down in history as 'the hand of God,' and another exceptional strike that is considered one of the best in the history of the competition.

 

Maradona was hospitalised after he complained of being fatigued regularly. His tests at the La Plata clinic revealed a blood clot in the brain, which doctors later revealed was operated on successfully. He passed away on November 25 after suffering a heart attack.