Farwell to a Colossus.

The first time I saw him, Jonty Rhodes' was doing his Superman impression. His ambling between the wickets was to become a defining trait of the man throughout his cricketing career.

His other traits – a remarkable temperament allied with the ability to absorb pressure and play like a cricketing god were on display in that semifinal against New Zealand.

The World Cup of 1992 was to define facets of the man that were to become his leitmotif.

Between then and now, he played many a defining innings and plenty of match winning ones.

Who can forget this innings? Or this one?

Whenever Pakistan needed him – to play the pressure game or change the tempo of the game – he delivered.

For me, his calming presence in the middle when everything around him was going up in smoke, the almost unbelievable amount of time he had to play his shots, his laid back attitude in direct contrast to some of his team mates are some of the qualities that made him a special player and a special person.

So it was a particularly poignant moment for me today when this happened –

27.4 Mupariwa to Inzamam-ul-Haq, OUT, fine catch, a very fine catch to end a brilliant batsman's one-day career. Inzamam trying to launch another six over long-on but got an outside edge behind Williams' head at mid-off who jogged back and took it in front of his nose. Fine catch Inzamam-ul-Haq c Williams b Mupariwa 37 (35b 2x4 3x6) SR: 105.71 And he gets a big standing ovation; each Zimbabwe player jogs over to shake his hand. And as he raises his bat, his Pakistan side all come down to greet their captain who, by now, is in tears. He takes his helmet off, acknowledges the crowd while wiping the tears dry. And 15 years ago today, Inzamam scored 60 off 37 balls to help Pakistan win the World Cup semi-final against New Zealand

His absence from the ODI scene is a void that will take a while to fill.

Goodbye Inzamam. And thanks for the memories