Retirements often leave the cricketing fans as well as pundits of the game with a sense of void. While many players get fitting farewell for their contribution to the sport, many of them don’t. In today’s article we will discuss eight such players who left everyone shocked with their retirement plans.
The first name in the list is of MS Dhoni. India was battling for a draw in the Boxing Day Test, with their skipper MS Dhoni gritting it out in the middle at 24, when the match was called off at the MCG – with four overs left in the day’s play. Dhoni, in his trademark fashion, uprooted a stump, like he has always done, and had made no qualms of his retirement in the post-match captain’s press conference. It was only after the BCCI released a press release which cited “the strain of playing all formats” as the reason for retiring from Test cricket.
The second name in the list is of Mohammed Kaif. Regarded as one of the finest fielders to have ever play for Team India, Mohammad Kaif also had a very heartbreaking end to his career. It was under Greg Chappell’s coaching when he changed the batting line and Mohammad Kaif was dropped out of World Cup 2007. Mohammad Kaif played his last match when he was only 26.
The third name in the list is of Mark Boucher. Mark, the South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman, announced his retirement after losing a lens, iris, and pupil in an eye injury that he faced in a match against England. Imran Tahir bowled a googly that hit the stump and caused a bail to fly, and hit the eye of Mark. This was one of the saddest ending to what could have been a legendary cricketing career.
The fourth name in the list is of Graeme Smith. A veteran of 117 Tests, with 109 (a world record) of them coming in as the leader of his country, Graeme Smith’s shock retirement sent the entire cricketing world in a tizzy. Smith, 33, announced his retirement, revealing the news to his teammates in the middle of the 2014 Australia’s Test tour of South Africa, in which he had struggled against the pace of Mitchell Johnson, having scrapped to just 45 runs in six innings.
The fifth name in the list is of VVS Laxman. As heartbreaking as it may sound, VVS Laxman, the Indian legend took the criticism to his heart and decided to retire from the cricket world. Well, during India’s Australian tour of 2011, VVS could only two half-centuries in eight innings. After this tour, he received a lot of criticism, which he took very seriously and decided to hang his boots.
The sixth name in the list is of Adam Gilchrist. One of the greatest wicket-keeping batsman, someone who revolutionized the role of a wicket-keeper batsman, Gilchrist’s fans were left in shock and disarray when the Aussie decided to hang up his boots at the end of the 2007-08 Border Gavaskar Trophy. Gilchrist’s retirement came barely 24 hours after breaching past the world record for dismissals. His announcement came at the end of the third day of the 4th Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval.
The seventh name in the list is of Navjot Singh Sidhu. The cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, was regarded as one of the finest cricketers of his time. In his glorious career of 19 years, he gave many memorable performances, however, he faced a sad ending in his career. If reports are to be believed then he was replaced by another cricketer and was called “unfit” by Wadekar. Another report states that it was Azharuddin, who made sure that Siddhu doesn’t qualify for the World Cup.
The last name in the list is of the Dada of Indian Cricket, Sourav Ganguly. Barely one-year after making his comeback to the Indian team after the Chappel fiasco, which led to his ouster from the set-up back in 2005, Sourav Ganguly, announced to the cricketing world prior to the 2008 Border Gavaskar Trophy, in a pre-series conference that the ensuing series would be his final hurrah in Test cricket.
