Andrew Symonds

Brutally aggressive with the bat, powerfully agile on the field and deceptively dangerous with the ball, Andrew Symonds was the ultimate limited-overs package. Although his career didn't span for a really long time, he did enough during his stay in international cricket to make his presence felt. A pure matchwinner for Australia, he even shrugged off the limited-overs specialist tag to make a surprise entry into Test cricket where again, he shone bright with quite a few impressive performances. For a man so gifted, only his own undoing could have derailed things and that's precisely what ended Symonds' career well before it actually should. A sensation on the field, Ricky Ponting once declared Symonds as the greatest fielder he had ever seen.

An Englishman by origin, Symonds' skills made an ear-deafening sound when he smashed a first-class record of 16 sixes in an innings en route to a flamboyant 254 in 1995. It made people to sit up and take notice. Born originally in Birmingham to West Indian and European parents, Symonds' adopted parents took him to Australia. He had the opportunity to represent England or even West Indies if he wished to but was adamant to represent Australia although he continued to play County cricket along with Sheffield Shield. The limited-overs debut happened in 1998 but he appeared to be a bits-and-pieces entity on the international stage. Of course he was more talented than that as shown by his domestic performances but somehow, Symonds couldn't put it together on the international stage.

Over the next few years, Symonds remained in and out of the side due to these reasons until the turning point finally arrived - the 2003 World Cup. His selection was heavily debated not only due to the sheer volume of inconsistency he had displayed till that point but also because many believed that the more experienced Steve Waugh (who had been dropped a year ago from the side) would be the ideal one. However, skipper Ricky Ponting stuck to his guns and Symonds didn't disappoint his captain as he went on to have a superb tournament with several invaluable knocks. It was the big break that he badly needed and it's fair to say that he had established a firm footing in international cricket.

Symonds' limited-overs success saw him earn a Test debut in 2004 but it was a bumpy start of sorts of him. The first couple of years were tough for him but he gradually got better due to solid backing from the team management who were looking for a genuine all-rounder. Symonds wasn't exactly that, at least for Test cricket, but had a good few years at that level mostly as a batsman who could provide vital breakthroughs and take stunning catches. However, disciplinary issues continued to haunt him once in a while apart from on-field altercations, the biggest of them being the infamous Sydney spat with Harbhajan Singh. Attitude problems meant that Symonds was sent off from the team quite a few times, the last of them being the 2009 World T20 due to alcohol problems. The result was the cancellation of the national contract.

The emergence of youth and Symonds' considerable decline in commitment and attitude meant that the all-rounder's career was all but done. He continued to ply his trade in the newly born Indian Premier League that was formed in 2008 and was among the costliest players of the first season. Symonds was picked by Deccan Chargers - a star-studded unit that finished at the bottom of the table but went on to win the title in 2009 with Symonds being one of the key performers in the side led by Adam Gilchrist. The rampaging T20 format suited Symonds' style to the 'T' and the all-rounder enjoyed himself thoroughly in a few other leagues as well before quitting all forms of cricket in 2012. A thorough entertainer with abundant talent, Symonds definitely could have scaled greater heights if he had curbed his flaws which eventually did him in.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan