February 4, 1990.

Richard Hadlee rattled the stumps of Sanjay Manjrekar and raised his arms heavenwards. The play was halted for a couple of minutes at the Lancaster Park as a little girl made her way into the ground to present the great New Zealander with flowers. The ceremony was apt. Hadlee was on the summit of the cricketing Everest.

Almost three decades earlier, when Freddie Trueman had been asked whether he thought anyone else could get to 300 wickets, he had responded, "Whoever does it will be bloody tired." Hadlee looked fresh enough to go on forever, and he had just become the first man to top 400.

He captured 31 more before stopping, 431 wickets in just 86 Tests, at 22.29. Well, he also scored 3124 runs at 27.16.

Sir Richard Hadlee was a freak.

Text: Arunabha Sengupta
Illustration: Maha