5 Indian Players Who Retired Prematurely From Cricket

Updated - 27 Nov 2023, 04:09 PM

Pragyan Ojha. Image-AFP.

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India is one of the toughest countries to be playing cricket as the competition is immense throughout the nation and the love for the game is spread everywhere. This has left a lot of cricketers worrying about their future and they tend to move on from the game once they are dropped.

The talent hunt is extraordinary and hence it becomes very difficult when the place on the side is lost. This has also led to early retirement for players and here are 5 Indian players who retired prematurely from cricket.

5 Indian Players Who Retired Prematurely From Cricket:

Ravi Shastri:

Ravi Shastri is one of the popular names going around in Indian cricket and he had announced his retirement at a very young age. Shastri played 80 tests and 150 ODIs for India from the period 1981 to 1992 and he was a very useful allrounder as well with his left-arm spin too.

Shastri was forced to retire at the age of 31 as he suffered a lot of injuries and he took up commentary very early. He also served as the Indian head coach from 2017 to 2021.

Praveen Kumar:

Praveen Kumar was the latest to retire at a very young age and he had some good years of international cricket at the start of his career. He was one of the main reasons behind India’s ODI series win in Australia in 2008 and he went on to play all the three formats for India.

Being a premier swing bowler, Praveen Kumar played 6 tests, 68 ODIs and 6 T20Is and he played his last international game in 2012. He wasn’t a regular feature in IPL after that and his loss in pace meant that it was difficult for him to get into Indian team again. He announced his retirement in 2018 at the age of 32.

Pragyan Ojha:

Pragyan Ojha was one of the leading spinners of India for a considerable period and he shared a fine partnership with the ball alongside Ravi Ashwin. The left-arm spinner was part of Sachin Tendulkar’s 200th test and he did face a few problems with his action.

He played first class cricket till 2018 and went on to pack his boots after that to get into the commentary panel. Ojha played 24 tests, 6 ODIs and 8 T20Is for India and he had some excellent IPL numbers as well.

Saba Karim:

Saba Karim played just one Test and 34 ODIs for India as a wicket-keeper batsman and he had suffered an eye injury while keeping to the bowling of Anil Kumble during Asia Cup at Dhaka. The injury meant that he lost his place in the Indian team and did not look like making a comeback.

Saba Karim had a phenomenal first-class career and he was expected to get a longer run as wicketkeeper for India. However, he announced his retirement soon in 2000 once he suffered the injury.

Nari Contractor:

Nari Contractor was one of the youngest captains for India and as a left-handed opener, he went on to play 31 tests for India. He scored 11 half-centuries and 1 century in his Test career and he came into the international scene with a lot of expectation after a stunning domestic season.

Nari Contractor had to retire in 1962 after being severely hit at the back of his skull. He was expected to be the next big thing in Indian cricket but was forced to retire early.

Also, Read – Best XI Of Players Who Could Not Win An IPL Trophy

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Pragyan Ojha Praveen Kumar Ravi Shastri Saba Karim