5 Legendary Cricketers Who Didn't Receive A Farewell Match After International Retirement

5 Legendary Cricketers Who Didn’t Receive A Farewell Match After International Retirement. Rising to the top in the game of cricket is quite a difficult journey. A cricketer has to struggle and practice for a lot of years to make his way in the national squad. Even after making it to the national team, a player has to show consistent performances to be part of the team. When players play a big role for their country over a long period of time, they are labeled as legendary cricketers.

However, even after getting a prominent status in the national team, players have to give their best performance to maintain their presence in the team. When the legendary players struggle to perform with the bat or ball, selectors have to take a tough call to drop them from the team.

These legendary players always deserve a farewell match, however, many times they are not able to get one when they announce retirement. Here we look at 5 legendary players who didn’t receive a farewell match after international retirement.

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5 Legendary Cricketers Who Didn’t Receive A Farewell Match After International Retirement

5. Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh is one of the best all-rounders Indian cricket has seen. Yuvraj Singh played a major role during India’s journey to winning titles in the T20I World Cup 2007 and ODI World Cup 2011. The left-handed batsman was the player of the series in both tournaments. Yuvraj played 40 Tests, 304 ODIs, and 58 T20Is for India.

In 2017, Yuvraj played his last international match which was a T20I match against England. He scored 27 runs off 10 balls. However, he did not get a chance to play for India for the next two years. In June 2019, Yuvraj announced his retirement from international cricket.

4, Matthew Hayden

Matthew Hayden was a strong and aggressive opening batsman of Australia. He played a big role during Australia’s ODI World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007. He played 103 Tests and 161 ODIs for Australia. He scored 8625 runs in his Test career and 6133 runs in his ODI career.

In January 2009, Hayden announced his retirement from international cricket, after a series of poor performances in New Zealand and South Africa’s tour. Before his announcement of retirement, Hayden was also dropped from the ODI and T20 squads.

3. Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen was an attacking batsman who played for England. Pietersen played 136 ODIs and 104 Tests for England, in which he scored 4440 and 8181 runs respectively. The right-handed batsman is the 5th highest run-getter for England in Tests. During England’s victory in Australia in 2010-11 and India in 2012-13, Pietersen played a big role for the team.

In 2013-14, England lost The Ashes series to Australia 5-0. This big loss became a huge disappointment for the team. Pietersen came under scrutiny by the selectors for the loss, despite having a good record with 294 runs in 5 matches that consisted of two fifties. Pietersen was never given a chance to play an international match after the series and he eventually retired from international cricket in March 2018.

2. MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni is one of the best captains of the Indian team. MS Dhoni led India to victory in the ICC T20I World Cup 2007, the ICC ODI World Cup 2011, and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. He retired from Tests in December 2014 but was active in ODIs and T20Is. He played his last international match during ICC ODI World Cup 2019 when played a commendable knock during India’s loss to New Zealand in the semi-final.

MS Dhoni was expected to be part of the ICC T20I World Cup 2020 in Australia. However, the tournament got postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a social media post, MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in August 2020. Dhoni played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs, and 98 T20Is for India.

1. AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers announced his retirement from international cricket in 2018. He posted a video on social media to announce his decision saying, “I have had my turn, and to be honest, I am tired”. His retirement announcement came as a big surprise for cricket fans. He played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs, and 78 T20Is for South Africa.

He scored 8765 runs in Tests, 9577 runs in ODIs, and 1672 runs in his T20I career. Villiers was an aggressive batsman and holds the record for the fastest fifty (16 balls) and hundred (31 balls).