It’s more common to have nicknames in Cricket. Some players get their name framed-up, some might land a name with their style of play and some, by their fans. Here is an overview of Nicknames of Cricket players.
Below is a Guest Article by Anand Gaud (anand.gaur840@gmail.com)
“Gets it! First man on the planet to reach 200… and it’s the Superman from India, take a bow master”
These were the exact words by Ravi Shashtri when Sachin Tendulkar, the Master Blaster, made the first double century in an International One Day match. Tendulkar, famously referred to as ‘Little Master‘ had multiple names already, but fans couldn’t get enough of him and hence there was a rise of ‘The God of Cricket‘.
Nicknames of Cricket Players
Ever since the birth of cricket in the late 18th century, cricketers have been referred by a different name according to their personality, style of playing, and various other parameters. Nicknames are quite common in the cricketing world as they at times describe a person on the field.
Right from Sir Donald Bradman as The Don to Virat Kohli as The Run Machine. It is also said that George Headly, one of the greatest West Indies batsmen was called as The Black Bradman by the commentators because he was the first world-class batsman in the team back then.
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Cricketers Nicknames – The Wall and The Rawalpindi Express
There has been a trend for giving nicknames in the cricket fraternity and the honour is mostly taken by the commentators. Coming to the modern day cricket, Yuvraj was known Sixer King after his Six Sixes against England and Rahul Dravid was called as The Wall for his sheer persistence on the field.
One could understand this from the words of worlds fastest bowler, Shoaib Akhtar, famously known as Rawalpindi Express, who said,
“….. The biggest nightmare I ever faced was Rahul Dravid. He used to bore me. He was the first batsman who could intimidate me, in terms of when he walked in, I knew I would have to field for at least two sessions more… Dravid killed you mentally. And physically he tired you. He was like Mohammad Ali, he would tire you out and then knock you down “
Hashim Amla, or The Mighty Hash, from South Africa, is something similar but an advanced version of Dravid.
The King, Nawab, and Sultan
If there was Viv Richards, King Viv or The Emperor, in the 80s, then there was The Nawab of Najafgarh, The Sultan of Multan, the man himself, Virender Sehwag who ruled the 2000s. While they both terrified every bowler with their dominating batting style, they changed the way cricket was played.
The Indian Nicks
Viru’s captain, Sourav Ganguly was called as Dada in Indian cricket because of his commanding personality.
Indians had MS Dhoni as Captain Cool and Harbhajan Singh as the Turbanator.
Similarly, there were many others likes Rohit Sharma as the Hitman after this 264, our very own Very Very Special Laxman, the stylish Laxman.
The Fan-Favorites
Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi was named Boom Boom Afridi or Lala by the fans and his teammate Misbah as The lone warrior since many a time he single-handedly tried to finish the match and so was the Australian Big Show Glenn Maxwell for his incredible hitting ability.
Matthew Hayden as the Big Fish, his companion Michael Hussey as Mr Cricket and Ricky Ponting goes by the name Punter. There are many, many to remind of, but some of them just stuck in our minds like the South African duo of Mr 360 Degrees, i.e A B Devilliers since he could play a shot in every corner of the ground with stunning frequency and Steyn Gun for Dale Steyn.
Wrap-up
All said and done, but this will continue forever and the fans enjoy each one of these. However, not many think this way, but it adds a different taste to cricket. Since all names mentioned above were cricketers, one name that pops up as an umpire was Steve Bucker as Slow Death Buckner, we all know about him, don’t we?
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