Top 3 Incredible Comebacks In Cricket
As the old age saying goes, a comeback is always stronger than a setback. Cricketers are also no strangers to this phrase. The sport puts players to the test not only on the field but also off it.
Injuries can put even the best players to the test, as they know that one catastrophic injury can end their careers. However, sometimes the best become the best after successfully returning to the sport after an injury.
Not only injuries, sometimes, other things also put players out of the field. Many times, it’s not their fault, but sometimes, it’s their own follies. There have been instances of players being out of cricket due to bans, personal issues, and other things, but the majority have made very good comebacks. And today, we will talk about 3 of such comebacks in cricket.
Here are the top 3 incredible comebacks in cricket:
- Mohammad Amir (PAK)
Mohammad Amir was touted as the next big thing in Pakistan cricket. He was compared with his idol Wasim Akram, as he could swing the ball both ways at a good pace. Amir made his Pakistan debut in 2009 and was part of the T20 World Cup-winning team that year as well. He was rising rapidly in the ranks in world cricket. But it all came crashing down in 2010.
England was touring England to play a Test series against Australia in 2010. In one of the Tests, Amir, along with Mohammad Asif were found guilty of bowling no-balls deliberately in return for payment from a betting syndicate. Then Captain Salman Butt was found to be the one who influenced Amir and Asif. Amir was sentenced to six months in prison but was released after 3 months.
Mohammad Amir was banned for five years from international cricket. He made his comeback in 2015 and became an important part of the Pakistan team in the Asia Cup 2016, and T20 World Cup 2016. However, his comeback moment came in the 2017 Champions Trophy final, when he dismissed the cream of Indian batting to be limelight of Cricket News and gave Pakistan a 180-run win to lift the trophy. Then in the 2019 World Cup, Amir was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker with 17 dismissals in eight matches.
- Steve Smith (AUS)
Steve Smith is considered to be one of the best batters in the modern era, but incidentally, he made his Australia debut as a leg-spinner, who could bat. But as we know today, he is a modern-day great. He has more than 9000 runs in 100-plus Tests and over 5000 runs in 150 ODIs. But his greatness comes with a blemish.
Steve Smith was the captain of Australia when the now infamous sandpaper gate scandal happened in South Africa. During the Cape Town Test, Cameron Bancroft was caught using sandpaper on the ball to change its condition to help the bowlers. This led to an investigation by Cricket Australia which found Steve Smith, David Warner, and Bancroft guilty.
Smith and Warner were banned for one year each and Bancroft was banned for 9 months. Smith made his Australia comeback in the 2019 World Cup, scoring 379 runs at an average of 37.90, including four fifties.
However, his moment of comeback came during the 2019 Ashes series where he put spectators in awe of seeing his Cricket Live Score in England. He made 774 runs in 4 Tests with 3 centuries and 3 fifties with a best of 211. He missed one Test due to being hit on the head by a Jofra Archer bouncer. Since then, Smith has regained his respect in the cricketing world and is the vice-captain of the Australian team in Tests and ODIs.
- Virat Kohli (IND)
Former India captain Virat Kohli is considered to be a modern-day legend with the bat. He has more than 8,000 runs in 111 Tests, 13,000 plus runs in 286 ODIs, and 4008 runs in 115 T20Is. He has the second most centuries in international cricket with 78.
However, from November 2019 to September 2022, Kohli endured a drought where he didn’t score a single international century for India. And in 2022, things became so bad that he was struggling to score half-centuries as well. He scored 1806 runs in 46 international matches in 2020 and 2021 with 17 fifties to his name. In the meantime, he gave up India’s T20I and Test captaincy and was replaced as ODI captain.
He took a break in 2022 after a tour of England for a month and didn’t touch the bat the entire duration of his vacation. He came back rejuvenated and since then has scored more than 2800 runs in over 60 international matches with eight centuries. He has scored one T20I century, 5 ODI tons, and 2 Test tons since that amazing comeback for India.
