"Morkel was one of the most underrated players in the world."- Steve Waugh

South African fast bowler Morne Morkel has sent shock waves around the cricketing world as he has decided to retire from International cricket after the Test series against Australia.

He will now end his international career after the fourth Test ends on April 3 in Johannesburg. If Morkel plays all four matches, Morkel will finish with 87 Tests and will add to his current tally of 294 Test wickets – fifth overall for South Africa.

Since making his Test debut in 2006, Morkel has been a vital part of South Africa’s pace attack along with Dale Steyn, especially after Makhaya Ntini’s last Test in 2009.

More recently, he led their pace attack in late 2015 in India when South Africa were without Steyn and Vernon Philander.

The right arm fast bowler then suffered a career-threatening back injury in 2016, which kept him out of action for most of the year. He missed the series against New Zealand, Australia, and Sri Lanka and only returned to the team in March 2017 in New Zealand.

He was then England’s leading wicket-taker in England in 2017. Morkel played in five of the six ODIs against India in the recently concluded series. He was being considered as one of the candidates for the 2019 World Cup until he announced his retirement on Monday.

However, former Australian captain Steven Waugh a veteran of 168 Tests said that Morkel was the most under-rated South African bowler.

Waugh said:

“That’s good news for a lot of batsmen around the world. He’s been terrorising batsmen for a long time. The thing I like about Morne is that he’s a fantastic bowler who is very respectful of the game. He’s a very humble person. I didn’t play against him, but I just like the way he plays the game. He just tears in every ball and gives it everything.”

“He’s one of the most underrated players in the world.”

Waugh also added that the news of Morkel’s retirement would work in South Africa’s favor:

“South Africa will play with more emotion, I think, and they’ll want to win for him. He’s been such a good team man. I’m sure our batsmen wish he could have retired one series earlier.”

Here’s the news feed:

5 Highlights of Morne Morkel’s Career

Morne Morkel announces retirement from International Cricket