5 cricketers who get more respect in other countries than in their own

Every sport has the power to bind different kinds of people. A player with prodigious skills can get accolades from all over the globe irrespective of his origin. Most of the time the audience consider these sportspersons as their role-models, and they cheer for them in any situation. Especially in the game of cricket, the players are revered as superheroes by their fans.

Cricketers are highly respected and in a country, like India, they are even compared to demi-gods. In the history of the game, there have been many stars who have inspired a generation. These stars will always try their best to bring glory to the nation but sometimes their achievements get undermined. Even after being neglected, their valiant efforts have never gone in vain, as they have been admired by other nations.

Here are the 5 cricketers who get more respect in other countries than in their own

1. Jhonty Rhodes – India

The South African is one of the most undervalued cricketers, as he has provided some illustrious moments to the cricketing fraternity. The player from Natal has represented the Proteas team in close to 300 matches. He has also scored over 7,500 international runs in his 11-year long career. Apart from his batting Jhonty always entertained the crowd with his electrifying fielding, and his run-out of Inzamam in the 1992 World Cup is still fresh in the minds of cricket lovers.

Even after his retirement in 2003, the player was never applauded by his home team. The South African board didn’t even consider him for any of the coaching roles which is really disrespectful to a player of his calibre.  In IPL 2008 Jhonty Rhodes was the Mumbai Indians fielding coach, and he was well regarded during his stay. Some of his fielding skills were passed on to the Indian cricketers and in a couple of seasons, he became respected personnel in the country. Considering his popularity South African tourism appointed him as their brand ambassador for India.

Rhodes returned the favour by naming his Daughter as India, and nowadays he is a regular in Indian cricket shows.

2. Darren Sammy – Pakistan

The cricketer from St. Lucia has to be the most unlucky player in the history of the game, as he was treated like a rugged doll by the West Indies board. Sammy plied his trade for the island nation in nearly 230 games and frequently chipped in with useful innings. He has scored around 3,500 runs and scalped 200 wickets in his career which is no mean feat. Sammy always weathered the storm in the Caribbean side and kept all the players in the same loop which is a quality of great captain.

The all-rounder is a World Cup hero and led his side to two ICC championships but he was dropped from the side in 2017 without any actual reasons and since then he has never donned the maroon jersey. His jovial nature and dance moves quickly caught the attention of Pakistan people in Pakistan Premier League where he led the Peshawar team to the title in 2017. Sammy was an important member of the team which brought the cricket back to Pakistan in 2017, and since then he is highly praised by their media.

He was even awarded the Pakistani citizenship by the current Pakistan Defence minister which shows their love for him.

3. Rahul Dravid – England and Australia

Rahul Dravid is a champion player who can be considered as an unsung hero of Indian cricket. He has played over 500 games for the Team India, and in various matches, he fought as a lone warrior to guide the team to victory. The cricketer from Bengaluru has scored nearly 25,000 runs in his international career of 16 years. Rahul Dravid was a tough nut to crack, and one of the few batsmen, who used to stand up when the going gets tough for his side.

Right from his playing days Dravid’s performances were overshadowed by various stroke-makers in the Indian team and people don’t even remember his ODI heroics even though he has over 10,000 runs in the format. The cricketers from England and Australia always respected him because of his notable contributions to the game without getting any considerations. The foreign media has often held The Wall above Sachin Tendulkar because he was the backbone of the line-up when India travelled abroad.

His selfless nature never caught the attention of Indian fans but the cricket lovers knew that if no ‘the wall’ wasn’t there there would be mayhem due to a lot of collapses.

4. Dwayne Bravo – India

The most charismatic West Indies player in the last decade has to be Dwayne Bravo, as he has entertained everybody in the world with his skills. The Trinidadian has played 270 ties for the island nation and has delivered some match-winning performances. Bravo has scored 6000 runs and bagged over 330 wickets in his career for the Windies. Along with his contributions with bat and ball, Bravo never backed down from any challenges and he is a character who stood for his teammates in tough situations.

He is often called the champion from the Caribbean land, as he has been a part of two World Cup winning sides but his conflicts with the board always put him in a bad light. The all-rounder was never considered in the scheme of things after 2014 which prompted him to take the retirement last year, but he always got a lot of affection from the people of India. Bravo has been a regular in the IPL and his dance moves and songs are very famous among the fans.

He is a bubbly character and such is his popularity in India that even Bollywood welcomed him to sing a song in the movie Tum Bin II.

5. MS Dhoni – Pakistan

The former Indian skipper is arguably one of the finest cricketers the country has produced in this century. He has represented the Men in Blue in close to 530 matches and in most of them, Dhoni has bestowed the audience with the best of the action. The wicketkeeper-batsman has piled 16,000 international runs, and his efforts behinds the stumps are straight out of Arabian tales because of the excitement surrounding it. MS Dhoni was a master tactician and he utilized his resources for the benefit of Indian cricket.

The cricketer from Ranchi has brought many laurels to the nation which includes 3 ICC trophies, but he has always been criticized by the Indian fans and experts during his bad times. Very few people have provided unconditional support to the legend and it includes the audience from the neighbouring country, Pakistan. Chacha Basheer who is one of the supporters of the Pakistan cricket team has showered praise on Dhoni but he was booed by the Indian fans. The yesteryear legends of Pakistan have often hailed him as the greatest cricketing minds.

Former President of Pakistan, Parvez Musharraf has shown his support for Dhoni in the post-match presentations, and some fans from the neighbouring country wear the Dhoni jersey of green shade whenever India takes on Pakistan.

These great players have given their best for the nation, but they never got the deserving credit from their own audience. However, they were adored by the true fans of the game.

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