From a fan's Point of view

As a cricket fan, there is no other sight which saddens you more than your favorite cricketer retiring. The emotions associated with the player, the ups and downs you feel when that player's form varies, that bond you share with that player is beyond words. So when that player retires, you feel a void. An unexplainable void. You may even become temporarily disenchanted with cricket. But as is the everlasting charm and 'pull' of cricket, within a short span of time you again become an avid follower of cricket.

The mentor Dravid and his student Rahane. It will be interesting to see whether Rahane can deliver and fill the boots of Dravid

As they say, every end is a new beginning. And nothing can be truer than that saying in cricket. When heroes fall, new ones rise. Sometimes slowly, but surely. At this stage, it feels great when you see a youngster, a toddler in comparison with your favorite legend, walk out of the pavilion and try to fill the big boots of the legend. The initial struggles of the youngster, the tremendous pressure he is under to perform, some gaffes by him on field, immaturity, the difference in temperament makes you sympathize with him. Soon, sympathy turns into skepticism. If things go well and the player performs well enough to cement his place in the team, skepticism turns into cautious admiration. Soon as you see the player grow in stature on the cricket field, that is when he begins to fill that void left by the retired player and that is when you become a fan.
Such is the nature of cricket. The show must go on. Cricketers are not like phoenix who rise from ashes, but they are like the magnificent waves of sea, when one falls, the other rises. After all, it’s all in the game, in the spirit of the game.

-Prahlad Upadhya