Friendship Day special: Tale of great cricketers who are close friends

By K.R. Nayar

Trailing cricket teams over the years has given me the opportunity to witness some interesting friendships among great cricketers. Though some of them play against each other and are huge rivals on the field, their friendship has remained strong even after their playing days. Read the story on tales of friendships in cricket…

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene 

July 30 is celebrated as the International Day of Friendship by the United Nations, and that prompted me to look at all those close friendships that I've seen among cricketers over the years. While some have talked about their friendship to me, I've seen others display it off the field too. But if you are watching a match, it is highly unlikely to determine who among the players are good friends. In fact, some of them may be great friends and might be playing in rival teams!

One of the advantages of trailing international teams during a series or a tournament, and often travelling with them on the same flight, has been that I've been able to get a closer look at friendships between cricketers. Sometimes one tends to hear interesting stories about their friendship too.

While some friendships in cricket may surprise you, there are a few that are well known. Most cricket fans would be aware of the friendship between the Sri Lankan legends Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara. Their relationship started during their school days and flourished over the years. They have together launched a restaurant called Ministry of Crab in Colombo, which I visited while in Colombo. Like their partnerships in cricket, they have carried forward their restaurant business brilliantly, transforming it into one of the top 50 restaurants in Asia.

Viv Richards and Ian Botham at a beach 

The other famous duo is Viv Richards and Ian Botham. Both were fierce fighters on the field, but off it, they were like brothers. It was while playing together for Somerset County in England that their friendship began. Once while working for Indian Express in Mumbai I was assigned to talk to them together when they came to India for a series of talk shows after their retirement.  A picture of both Richards and Botham in their swimming trunks at a beach during their Somerset days was recently used by many publications to show how sportsmen rise above racism. The story of how Botham quit Somerset as a protest over the sacking of Richards was revealed to me during my interview with them.

VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid 

It was also interesting to know that VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid, both of whom were involved in the historic partnership against Australia in 2001 at the Eden Gardens (Kolkatta), are great friends too  It was only a few years back that I learned of the friendship between the two great Indian openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir. Sunil Gavaskar and G R Viswanath were great friends, and with time they became relatives when Viswanath married Gavaskar’s sister. The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-Suresh Raina friendship is also well known.

Sunil Gavaskar and G.R. Viswanath 

It is said that Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly are great friends too. Tendulkar and Shane Warne, though were huge rivals on the field, are friends too, and that led to the staging of the All-Star T20 series in the USA in 2015. Similarly, Yuvraj Singh and Kevin Pietersen are so close that Pietersen is said to have been deeply disturbed when Singh was battling cancer. He is supposed to have been in constant touch with Singh during his treatment days.

The Indian Premier League has also contributed to friendships between cricketers from two different countries. Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers are great friends having played together for Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the present Indian team, K.L. Rahul and Hardik Pandya are thick friends, and unfortunately, both jumped into trouble for their sexist comments in a talk show on Indian television. Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison became great friends during their Under-19 cricket days. While touring for a series against the Pakistan Under-19 team, Flintoff is said to have lifted the spirits of a homesick Harmison to deliver his best.

It is with friends that we find a common ground even in our differences, and I am reminded of the famous quote from legendary boxer Mohammad Ali, who once said: “If you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”