Andrew Symonds' demise is big loss to cricketing fraternity as a whole: Lalchand Rajput

In a piece of shocking news that surfaced on the internet on the morning of 15 May, the demise of former Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds due to a car accident was confirmed. In a career spanning 11 years, he featured in a total of 238 matches across formats and garnered 6887 runs, and picked up 165 wickets. In the latest interaction, the former Indian cricketers Lalchand Rajput and Mohammad Azharuddin shared their views on Symond’s career.

Rajput reckoned that the former Australian all-rounder was a versatile player, and cemented his place in each format with his terrific performances. He thinks Symonds adopted to every format and could bowl off-spin or deliver medium pace, depending on the pitch. Rajput further added that along with the ball, the late all-rounder had excellent fielding abilities and was a match-winner for the Australian team.

“It’s a big loss not only to the Australian cricket but the cricketing fraternity as a whole. If you look at his career, he was a versatile player. He came up as a One Day cricketer, then emerged as an excellent T20 cricketer, and was a good Test cricketer as well. He adopted all the formats, and was a brilliant fielder, he could bowl off-spin and medium pace and along with his batting ability, he was a match-winner,” said Rajput on Sky247.net presents ‘Not Just Cricket’ Show on CricTracker.

Andrew Symonds had an abundance of talent: Mohammad Azharuddin

Azharuddin felt that it is a loss to the cricketing fraternity, with Symonds losing his life at an untimely age. The former Indian batter said revealed that he had only met the Aussie cricketer on a couple of occasions when the Indian team played a practice match against Gloucestershire on an England tour in the 90s. In the end, he reckoned that Symonds had an abundance of talent, and recalled the latter’s knock of 143* off 125 balls against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup.

“Certainly, it is a loss to the cricketing fraternity as he lost his life at such a young age. I couldn’t believe it at first but after a call from three-four people, realized it. I did not have many interactions with him and had met him when the Indian team toured England in the 90s, he was playing for Gloucestershire in County Cricket. I remember him playing a match-winning knock for Australia against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. He certainly was a versatile cricketer and had an abundance of talent, and I offer my condolences to his family,” said Azharuddin.