5 Legendary Cricketers Who Unnecessarily Prolonged Their Careers

A cricketer’s legacy is judged after his retirement from the sport. It is highly advised for players to retire on a high because sometimes, cricketers come under criticism for trying to unnecessarily prolong their careers. The fact that they want to do it all for their national teams is understandable, but sometimes, by not retiring, they end up blocking the place of young players, which does more harm than good.

Various legendary cricketers in the past have been accused not retiring at the right moment, and it essentially comes back to haunt them back. A player must always think of the team first, and his own interest after that. By not moving on at the right time, cricketers tend to tarnish their own legacy. With that said, in this article, we will take a look at five players who could have retired earlier, but they simply chose not to.

Here are five legendary cricketers who unnecessarily prolonged their careers:

5) Kapil Dev

The man who led India to their first-ever World Cup triumph in 1983, Kapil Dev is widely regarded by experts as one of the best all-rounders of all time.

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The legendary cricketer’s records speak for himself. Having said that, the numbers could have been much better, if only Kapil decided not to unnecessarily prolonged his career. From June 1992, up until his retirement in 1994, the right-handed batsman came in for a lot of criticism.

In that period, he accounted for 16 Test caps and managed just 33 scalps, which was well below Kapil’s own lofty standards. Earlier, the all-rounder had picked up 401 wickets in 115 previous matches. He was accused of being selfish and delaying the debut Javagal Srinath. The now 61-year-old could have retired 2 years earlier, and that way, he could have avoided all the criticism subjected at him.

4) Yuvraj Singh

Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh too has trodden down the same territory as Kapil Dev, and the results weren’t too dissimilar.

Once heralded as one of the key players within Team India, the Chandigarh born player did not get the send-off that he perhaps really deserved. Yet, it only happened because of Yuvraj’s decision to unnecessarily prolong his career.

Right after Champions trophy 2017, until the 2019 World Cup, the left-hander was snubbed from the national team. His fortunes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) weren’t too good either, and therefore, a player who won his nation two World Cups wasn’t even given a proper farewell.

3) Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad, popularly known for his unconventional style of batting and captaincy also features on the list of cricketers who unnecessarily prolonged their careers.

The 62-year-old was once considered among the most successful batsmen in the Pakistan team, however, his legacy took a big hit as Miandad approached the fag end of his career.

Had the right-handed player decided to retire after the World Cup in 1992, it would have been better. In the last three years of his career, Miandad played 25 matches and managed a paltry 590 runs, at an average of 32.77. Despite having an illustrious legacy, the Karachi born player got a bit selfish perhaps and caused his own harm. Miandad’s self-respect took a body blow, and due to him, a lot of young players suffered indirectly.

2) Ricky Ponting

As a player, Ricky Ponting won all the honours he could possibly get his hands on. Yet, perhaps the 45-year-old should have hung up his boots a little earlier than he eventually did. The Australian team had to suffer the implications of Ponting’s indecision. The year 2010 onwards, up until his retirement in 2012, the right-handed batsman drew a lot of flak.

In that time period, Ponting played 18 Test matches, scoring 1058 runs, which wasn’t an impressive tally, judging by his own lofty standards. In truth, the former Australian skipper should have called time on his career in 2011.

In a recent interview, Michael Clarke revealed that the board were pondering on a decision to drop Ponting from the team in 2012, so as to free him from the skipper’s duties. That certainly would have been an embarrassing situation for a player who won so much with Australia.

1) Sachin Tendulkar

The ‘God of Cricket’ Sachin Tendulkar is also accused of trying to unnecessarily prolong his career. Due to his exploits of the past, he was able to stay with the Indian team longer than any other player could have. However, the veteran was subjected to a lot of unfair criticism towards the end of his career. Maybe, Sachin should have just retired after the 2011 World Cup.

He was keen to achieve the record of 100 centuries, and in order to do so, the 46-year-old essentially ended up blocking the path of younger players. Since the 2011 series versus South Africa, Sachin played 23 Test matches, wherein he could muster up just 1229 runs, with an average of 32.32. Although he failed to hit a single century in the purest format during that period.

The ‘Master Blaster’ could have called time on his career after winning the 2011 World Cup, which would have been a befitting farewell for a legend, instead, he continued to play until 2013. Sachin’s last appearance came 24 years after his debut, in a Test match against the West Indies.