Hansie Cronje Earns Praise from Herschelle Gibbs After Sachin Tendulkar Lavishes Some

The late South African captain is enjoying a rare week in the limelight. Unfortunately he is no longer around to witness it.

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Herschelle Gibbs spewed more than desired in his autobiography "To The Point" angering several members of the South African cricket team. However, the one man he chose to be partial to was his former captain, Hansie Cronje.

Only last week, Sachin Tendulkar attributed Cronje as one of the most difficult bowlers to face. Now Gibbs gives credit to Cronje for being a captain unlike any other with the ability to lift the team. While touching upon Cronje in the aftermath of the match fixing saga of 2000 when Cronje admitted to his dark deeds, Gibbs spoke of the difficult task ahead for Shaun Pollock who had to take over the reins overnight.

Here is a passage from Gibbs' book attesting to the points stated above:

Things were never the same (after the match fixing episode). I sympathised with Shaun Pollock (who took over from Hansie Cronje as South Africa's captain ). He had a tough time filling Hansie's shoes and gluing the team together. But the Proteas never had that same togetherness under Polly ( Shaun Pollock). He never socialised with boys too much.

He further adds to his testimony of Cronje as a cricketer:

(Despite) the cloud that hangs over his ( Cronje's ) legacy, I can tell you that I've never played with anyone who possessed such a die-hard attitude to winning.

What Gibbs touched upon was indeed rather dark days not only for South African cricket but also, for cricket as a whole when Hansie Cronje broke down and confessed and Gibbs also copped a temporary fine and ban for his role in the scandal as well that saw Gibbs hesitate to enter India thereafter for fear of an arrest before matters were cleared with his lawyer.