5 Cricketers Who Came Out Of Retirement To Play For Their National Teams
Published - 19 Apr 2021, 03:57 PM | Updated - 27 Nov 2023, 04:47 PM
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It is very tough to be an international cricketer and it is even more challenging if the player chooses to come out of retirement and play again which has happened in the past. The pressure involved in international cricket is very immense and there is no room for comfort which obviously takes a toll on the mental side.
But, AB de Villiers is still playing in his prime form in the IPL for the RCB and despite being out of the game, his class and timing remain astonishing. In the game against KKR yesterday, he made a merry of the bowling attack with a quickfire 78 off just 34 deliveries.
De Villiers has also mentioned yesterday he is ready to make a comeback to the South Africa national team again. Here are 5 cricketers who came out of retirement to play for their national teams.
5 Cricketers Who Came Out Of Retirement :
Kevin Pietersen:
Pietersen did fall into the trap of retirement from limited over cricket in 2011 to concentrate on the longer format, but then changed his decision quickly and was selected to the limited-overs squad after some time. He last played for England in tests in 2014 and is now working as a cricket commentator globally.
Shahid Afridi:
The Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi did play for the country for a long time and has come out of retirement more than once. He has played 398 ODIs for Pakistan scoring 8064 runs at a strike rate after making his debut in 1996 and played more than two decades of international cricket. He last played for the nation in T20is in 2018.
He took an instant decision to retire in 2006 but later came back out of it in 2010 where he captained the team. He became more a bowling all-rounder and contributed very little with the bat, but was very effective with the ball in the latter part of his career. But his plans to retire did not stop and he did come out of it more than twice which was very surprising.
Imran Khan:
Probably, the most effective player who came out of retirement was one of Pakistan’s greatest cricketers Imran Khan. He led the team to their first WorldCup win in 1992 and not many people would have known that he announced his retirement after the 1987 WorldCup. He had a career span of more than two decades in test cricket.
He was an excellent all-rounder and has scored numerous half-centuries and centuries for Pakistan apart from taking wickets regularly. He played last in the 1992 World Cup and is currently serving as the prime minister of Pakistan. He is still considered to be one of the finest Pakistan cricketers ever.
Dwayne Bravo:
The West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is still actively looking to be part of the T20 Worldcup squad coming up this year and he had already announced his retirement from all formats in 2018. But he came out of retirement after the 2019 World Cup was over and he played international T20s for West Indies after that.
He is an excellent death bowler in the limited-overs format and although his pace has dropped down, he is still very effective with the yorkers and variations. He played the recent T20 series against Srilanka and is now currently part of the Chennai Super Kings franchise for the 2021 IPL.
Javed Miandad:
Javed Miandad decided to part ways with the game before the 1996 cricket world cup, but he was requested by the Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto to play the 1996 world cup and he accepted to come out of retirement. Miandad is famously remembered for his last ball six against India in 1986.
