Brad Hogg: 11 Jaw-dropping facts that puts Brad Hogg’s longevity in proper perspective

It was in January 1973, that Elvis Presley's concert in Hawaii became the first worldwide telecast by an entertainer thathad a bigger TV audience than the Apollo moon landings.

At the age of 44 years and 81 days, Brad Hogg became the oldest player to feature in a match in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday when he turned out for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). How does that translate in terms of longevity? H Natarajan places it in perspective: The first-ever New York Marathon was less than five months old when Hogg was born on February 6, 1971. Indian cricket’s watershed moments, the series wins by Ajit Wadekar’s Indian team in the West Indies and England that year, had not yet unfolded. And Sarfaraz Khan of Royal Challengers was born four years after Hogg made his First-Class debut in 1993-94 season!

Let us put Brad Hogg’s age in perspective by looking at some of the world events four decades ago:

1. The first-ever One-Day International (ODI) match, between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, was played just a month before Brad Hogg was born!

2. The stock market index Nasdaq Composite debuted two days after Brad Hogg was born. Along with Dow Jones Average and S&P 500, Nasdaq is one of the three most-followed indices in US stock markets.

3. The iconic Walt Disney World opened in Orlando, Florida, eight months after Brad Hogg was born.

4. Nine months after Brad Hogg was born, Intel released the world’s first microprocessor, the Intel 4004.

5. The six Persian Gulf sheikhdoms came together to form the United Arab Emirates10 months after Brad Hogg was born.

6. In the same month, the 1971 Indo-Pak War began after Pakistan launched preemptive attacks on nine Indian airbases. The following day India, launched a massive invasion of East Pakistan. And finally on December 16, 1971 West Pakistani forces surrender in the Bangladesh Liberation War. It marked the liberation of Bangladesh and the victory of the Independence War that began on March 25, 1971.

Dec 19, 1971: Dacca, East Pakistan: Indian troops in a heavily-camouflaged lorry arrive at Dacca in East Pakistan during the India-Pakistan War.

7. In January 1972, 11 months after Brad Hogg’s birth, the first scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) was introduced (price $395).

8. Twenty months after Brad Hogg was born, on September 1, 1972, Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavik, Iceland, to become the first American to become World Chess championin what still remains one of the most talked-about world chess championship fight.

On September 1, 1972, Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky in a chess match at Reykjavik, Iceland, to become the first American to become World Chess champion

9. Four few days later, the world is jolted by the Munich massacre when 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich are murdered after eight members of the Arab terrorist group Black September invade the Olympic Village. Five guerillas and a policeman are also killed in a failed hostage rescue.

One of the Black September guerrillas who broke into the Munich Olympic Village, killed two members of the Israeli team and took nine others hostage

10. It was in January 1973, that Elvis Presley’s concert in Hawaii became the first worldwide telecast by an entertainer that had a bigger TV audience than the Apollo moon landings.

Rock ‘n’ Roll star Elvis Presley holds a press conference at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel to announce his upcoming concert ‘Aloha from Hawaii’

11. On August 8, 1974, the Watergate scandal finds US President Richard Nixon announcing his resignation.

More stories from this writer:

12 foreign cricketers with Indian connections

When Sachin Tendulkar bowled India to victory with one of the greatest last overs in ODI history

10 Greek Gods in Indian cricket between the 1960s and 1980s

(H Natarajan is a journalistic schizophrenic who oscillates between two polar opposite forms of writing —analytical and insightful on the one hand, and rib-tickling humour on the other)