Forty two-year-old Bobby Simpson did it successfully in 1977-78 against India.

Younis Ahmed did it too, albeit not as successfully for Pakistan, when he played against India during the 1987 series.

Imran Khan won Pakistan the World Cup in 1992, after having announced his retirement from cricket earlier.

Shane Warne did it during the first edition of the IPL.

And now, Adam Gilchrist has done his, leading his team to win during IPL season 2.

What's the common thread that binds all these names? They all came back after retirement and won laurels for their country and teams respectively. That has been the power of the retired, but not quite tired players, over the years in cricket.

In fact, such has been the power of players like Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Anil Kumble that the youngsters could not managed to keep up with the challenge. (Unfortunately, Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya did not have the most successful tournament or the list would have been more impressive). All of them, incidentally, are now on the wrong side of their thirties.

Such has been the impact of Gilchrist and Hayden (cricket has always been partial to batsmen) that none of the established players could come in the way of their success. Hayden, once he managed to grab the orange cap, never let anyone come near him. The number of sixes that Gilchrist hit left the likes of Sehwag and Pietersen far behind.

Anil Kumble managed to resurrect a team that looked set to have second consecutive bad year at the IPL. And if his form had not slackened midway through the tournament, he would have given the highest wicket taker, RP Singh, a run for his, well, wickets.

But take a look at some of the people who have done it in the past. These heroes I mentioned above were lucky that they had to come back to competitive cricket soon after retirement. But spare a thought for some of the others. They came back to play at the highest level at a time when cricket was not so demanding and it required a lot of motivation to be fit and raring to go.

I have heard stories of Bobby Simpson, who last played a test match in 1968, coming out of retirement to lead Australia against India in 1977-78. The Australian team had been depleted because all the big stars - Chappell brothers, Jeff Thomson, Dennis Lillee, Rodney Marsh, and several others - had joined what was then seen as the cricket circus, Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. Australia had also lost the Frank Worrell trophy to West Indies 5-1. Simpson was called by the Australian cricket board and he led Australia to the 3-2 series win against India.

How many people remember Younis Ahmed as a test player from Pakistan? There is nothing spectacular that he has done, having played only four test matches.

As a school kid, I remember watching 40-year-old Younis Ahmed play, as he was flown in from Pakistan midway through the series in 1987. That was Imran Khan's strategy to counter left-arm spinners Maninder Singh and Ravi Shastri, who were creating problems for Pakistani right-handed batsmen. Younis, a left-handed bat, was not very successful in the two tests that he played in the series but still holds a unique record. He had last played a test match in 1969, 18 years ago. No one else has played two test matches with a gap of 18 years in between.

Of course, what Imran Khan did during the 1980s was the stuff that legends are made of. He won a test series in India in 1987, beat the English team 1-0 in their 1987 series, the first time Pakistan did that. He decided that it was time to hang up his boots but was forced to come back after retirement. And from a hopeless situation (and after losing to India during the early stage), Imran led his team to win the 1992 World Cup.

So, as I salute the achievements of the Gilchrists, Haydens and Kumbles, I also have a special place for the others mentioned here.