Mumbai: Over the years, world cricket has taken long strides. Dominated by elitism, the sport celebrates talent . With fitness and athleticism becoming the order of the day, every cricketing superstar needs to be on their toes regularly. The sport demands not only skill but also to perform under huge pressure. While the level of the game and fitness standards has gone up, every player is required to play out of their skins on the field.
If you look at modern-day masters like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja have advanced the standards of the sports to a different level altogether. Needless to say the abundance of young talent in modern day of cricket is conspicuous. The amount of competition for spots is climbing higher everyday, and nobody is guaranteed a spot in the test squad unless they perform consistently. However, for some experienced players age becomes a cruel devil. In this article we bring you a list of 6 cricketers who might announce their retirement after ICC WTC Finals. Have a look:
Murali Vijay: At one stage in 2008, Murali Vijay was a very crucial member of the Indian Test side. Ever since he was excluded from the Indian cricket team, Vijay’s cricketing career took a turn. Be it IPL or domestic circuit, the right-handed opening batsman
has failed to make full use of the opportunities that he was given.
Vijay played 87 international matches, including 61 Tests. But due to struggling form and inconsistent performances with the bat, Vijay was dropped from the Indian Test side. The 36-year-old has some good T20 records as well. On the other hand his several injuries has became a big factor for his lesser appearances in the last domestic season also. It will not be a surprise if Murali Vijay announced his retirement in 2021.
Shikhar Dhawan: Shikhar Dhawan has been in terrific form in the limited-overs matches for India as well as in the IPL for and he finished as the top scorer in IPL 2021 for Delhi Capitals. But he’s not getting new chances in international cricket. He wouldn’t have been the first-choice opener for India, as present test openers duo of Rohit and Gill with Mayank Agarwal is might be tough for him to break in. The left-hander can provide an advantage at the top and he is a prolific run-scorer in limited-overs format for India. But he is not getting any younger and his chances in the Indian whites are looking bleak at the moment. The present test openers of Rohit and Gill with Mayank Agarwal in the wings might be tough for him to break in. He played 34 Test matches where he amassed 2315 runs. He is considered to be one of the top ten list of run-scorers for India in the One Day Internationals. He was the emerging player of the ICC Champions Trophy that India won in 2013.
Dinesh Karthik: Dinesh Karthik’s exclusion from India’s limited-overs series has came as a surprise to many and remains unjustified. Karthik was dropped from the T20 team after the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final. The 36-year-old has been in and out of the international side for a long time now as he didn’t contribute that much. The Tamil Nadu batsman has a strike rate of over 150 from 2017 to 2019 in T20 internationals. Karthik has been one of the best finisher in the country. However, with plenty of young keeper-batsmans presence, the KKR skipper had a low chance of making another comeback, hence the 35-year-old may move on from his hopes of playing for India again.
Umesh Yadav: Umesh Yadav has always been a very underrated performer for team India during his international career. During his career, the fast bowler has matured and evolved as a fast bowler and played a key role in India’s win especially in Test cricket. Yadav played 48 Test matches, 7 T20Is and 75 ODIs. Umesh has picked 148 Test wickets, 106 ODI wickets and 9 in T20Is. Talking about the competition for places in playing XI, Umesh reckons that it ultimately benefits the team. Recently Umesh has talked about his retirement and indicated that he might retire after a year or two.
Wriddhiman Saha: Bengal-based wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha who, is currently with the Indian squad for the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand and he will continue to be in the squad for the five-match test series. Know for his exemplary glovework behind the stumps, he was the selector’s first choice after the cricketing legend MS Dhoni bid adieu to the white jersey in 2015. In Test cricket under the leadership of Virat Kohli Saha has played 37 matches. He has scored 1238 runs at an ordinary average of 30.2. He is currently facing tough competition from the youngster Rishabh Pant who performed brilliantly with the bat and made it impossible for him to get a game. If reports are something to go by Saha is expected to hang his boots after the ICC World Test Championship finals.
Bhubaneswar Kumar: Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been struggling for both form and fitness lately. Over the last few years, the right-arm pace bowler has really evolved himself into a complete bowler. He’s added an extra yard or two in his pace and his swing is back too. He became India’s premier white-ball bowler alongside Jasprit Bumrah and was regularly playing Test cricket as well. His several injuries has became a big factor for his lesser appearances. He has picked up constant niggling injuries for the past 1.5 years which could prove costly for him. The 30-year-old pacer hasn’t featured in a single Test match since January 2018. He has been in and out of the shorter formats as well. Jasprit Bumrah has replaced Kumar as India’s go-to man, but the national team is undoubtedly better with both these players in the playing XI. Needless to say he is slowly moving towards the fag end of his career. Having said that he is one of the Indian players who might retire from cricket after WTC final.
