From 64, it became 32. Then we came down to 16, and eight, then the semi-finals.
Finally, we have two players remaining in the fan-powered search for the ODI GOAT: India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.
For 40 days, and amid millions of votes, this pair has risen above a cavalcade of the world’s greatest ever ODI players to be considered top two by the voting audience.
Social media has been abuzz with the daily GOAT (that’s ‘Greatest of all Time’ if you missed it) match-ups, with passionate fans voting, sharing and tagging their friends and coming back again and again to cricket.com.au, all in a bid to ensure the player they view as the greatest progressed to the next round of the knockout competition.
Along the way, this celebration of One-Day International cricket’s finest players not only captured the imagination of readers but also attracted the attention of some of the players involved.
Sri Lanka’s Sanath Jayasuriya, a World Cup winner and a colossus of the ODI game for almost two decades, took to Facebook to encourage his legion of fans to vote for him as he reached the pointy end of the competition, taking on Tendulkar, no less, in the semi-final.
Along the way, Jayasuriya proved somewhat of an Aussie giant-killer, taking down Mark and Steve Waugh, as well as Ricky Ponting, before upsetting current India superstar Virat Kohli in the quarter-final.
The wave of support from his countrymen couldn’t get him over the line against Tendulkar however, with the Little Master prevailing amid hundreds of thousands of votes.
Pakistani great Waqar Younis also used social media to draw attention to the ODI GOAT, after he defeated former fast-bowling partner Wasim Akram in the round of 16.
Instead of attempting to advance his cause however, Waqar modestly suggested he wasn’t worthy of moving on in the competition at the expense of the legendary Wasim.
The fans disagreed and Waqar took his place in the quarter-finals, against another Pakistani swing king – Imran Khan.
Imran, Pakistan’s 1992 World Cup winning captain, was a strong winner over Waqar and made his way through to the semi-finals, where he met recently-retired Sri Lankan run machine Kumar Sangakkara.
That’s where his run ended, leaving Sangakkara and Tendulkar to square off in the final.
So, which of these two is the Greatest of all Time when it comes to ODI cricket?
Stay tuned to cricket.com.au and be sure to vote when the final begins later this week.
