Early To Rise, Early To Set ??

What is common to Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and Shaun Peter Pollock ?? Both came onto the scene with a bang. Both shone in the limelight for their respective teams. Both were the most consistent, reliable performers for a number of years. Both were automatic choices for any kind of World X1 anyone ever thought of assembling and both dominated the cricket ratings.

Today both continue to be integreal members of their side - but no longer seem indispensable. From India, you hardly notice a couple of frowns when Tendulkar misses matches all so often due to injuries whereas earlier it would seem a national crisis. South Africa too as they demonstrated in the West Indies can do very well without Pollock. Not that these 2 are no longer very good players; they are - perhaps even great still - but they no longer inspire the fear in the heart of the opponent.

Perhaps these prodigies who achieve so much at a young age do have a limited span and hence are settling into their sunset relatively early. Contrast this with someone like Anil Kumble who also started out young, but did not have a smooth ride as these - he had to fight it out most of the while - as a result his ambition is still burning as high as ever and he is enjoying the high noon of his career.