Cricketers Who Took A U-Turn After Announcing Retirement

Cricketers Who Took A U-Turn After Announcing Retirement;  Well, playing cricket for the nation is always a great feeling for any individual. Many persons over the years, across the world, made their debuts for their respective nations and played for a long time to make things fall in place. They have earned a lot of awards and rewards coupled with great respect and memories to cherish.

However, all will come to an end on one day when they announce their retirement. There are many legendary cricketers, who left the game with all the above-mentioned things in their life. However, a few cricketers failed to continue their life after retirement as smooth as it was during their playing days. It certainly pushed a few cricketers to come out of retirement and play the game of cricket once again.

Cricketers Who Took A U-Turn After Announcing Retirement:

– Kevin Pietersen:

The South African-born English cricketer Kevin Pietersen is one of the legendary players and the stylish batsmen of his era. In a surprising move, he announced his retirement in 2011 after the ICC World Cup. However, after a few days, he took the retirement back and confirmed his retirement last year at the age of 37 Years.

Pietersen scored 8181 runs in 104 Tests and the destructive batsman was named Player of the Series after leading England to the World Twenty20 title in 2010. But his international career came to an end in 2014 after Pietersen was involved in a rift with his team-mates.

His relationship with the ECB never really recovered, and he was eventually told that he was no longer being considered for selection.

– Carl Hooper:

The former West Indies captain in Test and ODI formats of the game is also one of those players, who made a comeback into the game after calling curtains. A middle-order batsman and off-spinner, who was known for his lazy elegance with both bat and ball, Carl Hooper was one of the most talented cricketers of his era.

For all the unknown reasons, he called it quits when the World Cup is just three weeks away thus leaving the selectors in a spot of bother. He made a comeback in 2001 to play 2003 World Cup.

The captaincy, which he took on after a prolonged absence from the side, briefly brought out the best in him, and for two years he averaged nearer 50. But, following a disappointing World Cup in 2003, he was replaced by Lara.

– Brad Hogg:

The left-arm Chinaman bowler was one of the successful bowlers for Australia in 2003 and 2007 world cups. The flamboyant cricketer has then made a name to himself after Shane Warne to play across the formats. But, everything was not well after his marriage with his then-wife Andrea was going through a rough patch.

Hogg was caught calling Anil Kumble and M.S Dhoni, “bastards”; That got him suspended and Hogg announced his retirement soon after.

After sorting out his married life and getting over suicidal tendency as mentioned in his biography he came back as a stronger person at the age of 41 and even played the 2012 and 2014 editions of T-20 World Cup.

– Imran Khan:

One of the great comeback stories would be Imran Khan’s comeback. Coming back from retirement, Imran Khan-led Pakistan to World-Cup victory in 1992. Pakistan were underdogs going into the 1992 Worldcup.

Actually, he retired after the 1987 World Cup. Pakistan’s President, Zia Ul Haq, wanted him to come back to cricket and on popular demand, he made a comeback in 1992, at the age of 39. Imran Khan, with his supreme captaincy tactics, had nurtured youngsters like Inzamam-Ul-Haq.

Inzamam played a vital role in 1992 world cup scoring at a fast pace, which was very rare in those days. He has been inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame. He is also one of the eight cricketers in the world to achieve an ‘All-rounder’s Triple’ in Tests.

– Javed Miandad:

Yet another Pakistan legendary cricketer makes his name into the chart. Miandad is remembered as a legend who led Pakistan to newer heights. One of the most memorable Miandad moments was in 1986, against India. It was the last ball of the match, and Pakistan needed four to win. He smashed a big six to seal the deal for Pakistan.

Like Imran, Miandad also made a comeback from his retirement but he did so in the span of only 10-days after the then Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto asked him to play for the team till 1996 World Cup. However, he scored only 54 from three innings of the tournament and finally ended his career at the age of 39.

– Shahid Afridi:

This man had made the word retirement a ”Joke” with the regular announcements. He has retired from the game many times and also made a comeback for many times. Afridi, who is considered to be among the best all-rounders of 21st century, started his retirement and comeback saga in 2006 by announcing his temporary retirement from Tests but came back in 2010 and that too as captain.

However, he quit after just a single match. His reasons were lack of form and inability to play the longer version of the game. He next retired right after he led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup. This time again he made a comeback to ODI side towards the end of 2011 and played till 2015 World Cup under the leadership of Misbah-ul-Haq. Apart from all those, Shahid Afridi has always been a true champion.

– Chris Gayle:

The Stylish southpaw Chris Gayle in one of the present cricketers, who is on the verge of calling it quits. One day, he expresses his retirement plans and on another day, he keeps changing it. Gayle quoted that he would retire after ICC World Cup 2019 but he extended it to play one last series back home.

In the last ODI, after scoring a 41-ball 72, he raised his bat and hung his helmet on it in acknowledgement of the applause he was receiving from the sparse crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain.

Chris Gayle was congratulated by Virat Kohli and the rest of the Indian teammates as he walked back to the pavilion. In fact, Gayle and his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Kohli did their famous high-five on the pitch after Gayle’s dismissal.

However, after the game, Chris Gayle confirmed he hasn’t retired from ODI cricket despite walking off to a standing ovation. He is yet to announce retirement in Test cricket as well.

– Ambati Rayudu:

The latest to add to the chart is India’s Ambati Rayudu. The right-handed batsman called curtains on his career after being ignored for the ICC World Cup 2019. However, in the latest news, Rayudu quoted that he thinking to take retirement and start playing the game again.

During the course of the World Cup in England, Rayudu had announced his retirement after he wasn’t chosen as a replacement for the injured Shikhar Dhawan despite being named one of five stand-bys for the quadrennial event.

The 33-year-old has written to the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA), saying his decision to retire was an emotional one and that he is available for selection. The flamboyant batsman will be available to play the game for Hyderabad after September 10th and then to play in IPL.