The twilight of sporting greatness

It seems even the gods of sport, much like that jar of pickles at the back of the fridge, are not immune to the slow, inevitable expiry of greatness.

In football, the once unthinkable has happened: the 2024 Ballon d’Or longlist is conspicuously lacking the names of Messi and Ronaldo. The two footballing titans, whose reign outlasted many British Prime Ministers, have been on that list for the last two decades, winning 13 of the 19 trophies.

But time spares no one — not even the GOATs.

Meanwhile, in tennis, Jannik Sinner ended an era with his US Open victory. 2024 will be the first time since 2002 that not a single member of the “Big Three” (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) will have a Grand Slam title to their name. Thomas Johansson, Albert Costa, Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras were the four champions 22 years ago and the current winners, Sinner was just a year old, while Alcaraz was yet to be born.

In case you weren’t keeping score, Federer (20), Nadal (22) and Djokovic (24) have hoarded 66 Grand Slams between them.

In 85 Grand Slam tournaments between Wimbledon 2003 — the first of Federer’s 20 Slam wins — and 2024, a member of this trinity has featured in 75 finals. The 10 misses came at the 2005 and 2024 Australian Open; 2004, and 2024 French Open; the 2016 Wimbledon; and the 2003, 2014, 2020, 2022, and 2024 US Open.

Djokovic’s shocking third-round defeat to Alexei Popyrin in New York recently handed the Serbian a Slam-less season for the first time since 2017. The 23-year-old Sinner’s second Slam title at Flushing Meadows marks only the third time — and the first since 1993 — that the four Majors of the year were won by players aged 23 and under since the Open Era began in 1968.

The 30-man Ballon d’Or list, meanwhile, is led by fresh-faced prodigies like Jude Bellingham, 21, and a trio of 24-year-olds in Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Vinicius Jr. And then there is Barcelona and Spain’s Lamine Yamal, who, at 17 years and 53 days, has become the youngest-ever nominee to France Football magazine’s annual list.

“I want to leave a mark in world football. Being among the 30 finalists for the Ballon d’Or and a top candidate for the Kopa Trophy at 17 is a dream. I’m the youngest in history to achieve this, and it motivates me even more,” said Yamal, who shattered Pele’s 66-year record as the youngest player at a major championship final when he starred for Spain against England at Euro 2024.

Back home, the end of an era is sneaking upon us as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — for long India’s batting mainstays — inch towards the twilight of their remarkable careers. After bowing out from T20Is with a triumphant World Cup win in the US and Caribbean, their time with the national team might be ticking down to its final moments.

India has won 61.11 per cent of matches (393 of the 643) that either Kohli or Rohit or both have played. The winning percentage goes up to 63.002% when both have played while falling to 57.71% when neither has played.

Maybe, just maybe, a last hurrah awaits them at next year’s ICC Champions Trophy, set for February-March, across the border in Pakistan.

As for Ronaldo and Djokovic, a record-extending goal or another Grand Slam title still seems as inevitable as a Monday morning after a rushed weekend.