Five Indian Players Who Might Retire From International Cricket In 2020

5 Indian Players Who Might Retire From International Cricket In 2020; The last decade of cricket has given a lot for the Indian fans, as they truly dominated the world cricket across formats. They started the decade with a World Cup victory, which ended 28- year wait and later won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 under MS Dhoni’s leadership.

Later, Virat Kohli took the charge and led India to become the No.1 team in Test Cricket Rankings. We also came across a few emotional scenes when Sachin Tendulkar called curtains on his career alongside a few legendary cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan, who too bid adieu to the gentleman’s game.

Much like the same, the new decade might also witness quite a few stalwarts of the game – to hung their boots. 2020 had already started with the retirement of Irfan Pathan, who called it for all forms of the game.

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Meanwhile, we figured out five cricketers, who might retire in 2020.

Five Indian Players Who Might Retire From International Cricket In 2020:

5. Murali Vijay:

The downfall of Murali Vijay is one of the most surprising stories happened in Indian Cricket. He was expected to be the long-serving candidate for India in Test cricket after his magical knocks in overseas.

Vijay was one of the more valuable finds of the post-Tendulkar era; a vital cog in the top-order of the team who had consistently proved his mettle in away conditions with his adaptable technique.

But soon, he faded away giving way for the youngsters, who took it with both hands. With youngsters like Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill in the competition alongside Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay might not get any chance to don the Indian Jersey again.

He scored 3982 runs in 61 Test matches at an average of 38.29. Murali Vijay also appeared in 17 ODI matches and 9 T20 International games.

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4. Harbhajan Singh:

The veteran India off-spinner has been out of the scheme of things since 2016 and has also left playing domestic cricket for Punjab. His contract with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ends after IPL 2020 and Harbhajan is expected to take a call on his career after the T20 league.

With 417 wickets in Tests, Singh is second to Muralitharan in the charts of highest wicket takers as a spinner. He was also an active part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad but after the World Cup, in 2012 he started sidelining because of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s form.

Harbhajan has been doing commentary on a regular basis and it’s clear that he will continue to perform the same job after his retirement.

The Turbanator will always be remembered for the lethal spin he induced to claim the toughest wickets in the opponent’s line up.

Apart from his 417 wickets in 103 Tests, Harbhajan Singh bagged 269 and 25 wickets in 236 ODIs and 28 T20I games respectively.

3. Yusuf Pathan:

Yusuf Pathan made a name for himself as one of the hardest hitters of the cricket ball in domestic and international cricket. He is a typical lower middle-order batsman, capable of giving the innings a mighty push in the slog overs with an uncanny ability to clear the ropes.

He first donned Indian colours in the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007, in the finals of the tournament.

Later, his prowess to hit the ball out of the park helped him to get a call-up for ODI format. He made his ODI debut in the Bangladesh tri-series in 2008, and although he didn’t make much of an impression there, the selectors persisted with him.

However, 123 against New Zealand in Bangalore and 105 against South Africa in Centurion has helped him to find a place in the ICC world cup squad in 2011. He did well but couldn’t continue his heroics after the ICC event.

Since then, he is playing for Baroda in the domestic circuit and continued his success in IPL. Unfortunately, the last couple of years didn’t go as planned, which saw his ouster from IPL 2020.

Most likely, he would call curtains this year.

2. Ambati Rayudu:

The case of Ambati Rayudu is really strange, as he had a real start-stop career. The flamboyant batsman started his career on a great note but soon faded out. However, he made a comeback with a brilliant show in Indian Premier League (IPL) but things didn’t work out, as selection committee had other ideas in their mind.

All hell broke loose when Rayudu, who was regarded as India’s primary No. 4 option in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup, was left out of the squad for the 50-over showpiece event in England and Wales. His omission left many bewildered as he averages 47.05 in the format and did a decent job at No. 4, averaging over 41, before the mega event.

At the time when Rayudu was overlooked, MSK Prasad had stated that they opted for Vijay Shankar for being a ‘3-dimensional player’.

Later, Rayudu shared a sarcastic tweet by saying, “Just Ordered a new set of 3d glasses to watch the world cup.”

Following the World Cup snub, Rayudu had announced retirement from international cricket only to revert this decision later on.

However, at 34, it doesn’t look likely that the middle-order batsman would get another opportunity with the national side.

1. MS Dhoni:

MS Dhoni is one of the greatest ever limited-overs player that India has ever produced. His achievements are not limited only as a batsman, but also extends as a captain. Under Dhoni’s leadership, India has won all the ICC trophies on offer.

Many predicted that Dhoni would announce his retirement after India’s exit from the 2019 Cricket World Cup where they lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals, but that has not been the case.

With Rishabh Pant getting backed to the hilt and Sanju Samson waiting for his chance, it is unlikely that the selectors will now go back to Dhoni. Irrespective of performances, he is likely to take a call on his career after IPL 2020 as his contract with CSK ends after the next season.

The selection committee has moved on from the former India captain while the head coach is waiting for the IPL season for Dhoni to prove his credentials and make a comeback. All in all, Dhoni’s case is a strange one.