A dropped catch off VVS Laxman in the ongoing fourth and final Test against India is reportedly the moment when Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist decided "it was time" to bid adieu to his illustrious career.
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the affable stumper was inclined to continue for another year before the dropped catch made him think otherwise.
"Gilchrist entered the Test firmly committed that he would play on for another year. But a dropped catch off VVS Laxman was the moment when he realised that he no longer had the concentration required for Test cricket," the daily revealed.
Gilchrist was having a rather ordinary time behind the stumps in the ongoing series and critics had been having a go at him for his mistakes.
The opener had brushed aside the criticism saying he was only human and nobody had an inkling that retirement announcement was on his mind.
His decision stunned everybody from teammates to Cricket Australia but family and close confidantes said the left-hander had been mulling over it for some time.
Gilchrist's father, Stan, said he was not all that shocked by the sudden announcement.
"It wasn't really a surprise ... it's been a while coming," Stan, who would be reaching in Adelaide on Sunday to watch his son's Test swan song, said.
Stan said Gilchrist's decision to retire was based on instincts and was not influenced by other factor.
"Ian Chappell always said you know when the time is right - and that moment had come to Adam. People have been trying to ask me all day whether there was another motive, but there wasn't. He just knew it was time," he said.
Another close confidante of Gilchrist and former player Tom Moody said the stumper had informed him about the retirement this morning.
"He rang me this morning and the point he made was that sportsmen always say you reach a moment when you just know the time is right," he said.
"He said he had reached the moment," he added.
Meanwhile, compliments kept pouring in for the much-admired cricketer, who has been hailed as the best wicketkeeper-batsman in the history of the game.
South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock said, "He was just a fantastic player."
"Players say Australia are short of all-rounders, but to have him keeping as well as he did and batting at No 7 and averaging 50 certainly countered that theory. You just never felt comfortable until he was out," he added.
Reports revealed that Gilchrist also gave a call to Brad Haddin, touted to replace him in the side after he gives up all forms of the game after the end of the ongoing Test and the next month's one-day series against India.
