The year 2017 has seen a plethora of talented cricketers descending on the international stage but the cricketing world also had to bid goodbye to few others.
1. Zafar Ansari
The 25-year old English left-arm spinner retired from International Cricket in April 2017 in a bid to pursue a career in Law. He has several academic achievements-in Philosophy, Sociology, Politics, History to list few.
He made his debut against Bangladesh in October 2016 and later came up against the might of Kohli & co in the test series against India. He had a long way to go but he clearly felt Cricket was only a part of his life and that he had other ambitions.
– by Nikhil Vadapalli
2. Dwayne Smith
Hard-hitting West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Smith announced his retirement from International cricket in March 2017. He is more renowned for his exploits in the limited overs formats but his test match-saving knock of 105 on debut against South Africa in 2003-04 has to be a major highlight.
He represented the Windies in 105 ODI’s and 33 T20I’s and was part of the T20 WC squads in 2007,2012 and 2014. He has been a regular in the IPL and several other T20 leagues across the world.
3. Nawroz Mangal
Former Afghanistan captain Nawroz Mangal retired from International cricket in January 2017 and assumed the role of national chief selector soon after. He has 49 ODI caps and 32 T20I caps and will be etched in Afghanistan’s cricketing history for captaining in their debut first-class match.
4. John Hastings
In October 2017, Aussie quick John Hastings announced retirement from first-class and one-day forms of cricket owing to multiple major surgeries and the subsequent toll on his body.
He played 29 ODIs and nine T20 internationals for Australia and year 2016 has been a revelation for him as he picked up 29 wickets in 15 ODI’s-equal with Imran Tahir and only behind Adam Zampa.
His sole focus will be on T20 cricket and has been named the captain of Melbourne stars for the upcoming Big Bash League.
5. Luke Ronchi
Luke Ronchi happens to be the first player since Kepler Wessels to represent two ICC member nations. Ronchi was born in New Zealand but raised in Australia.
He came in as a stand-in for Australia’s Brad Haddin in 2008 and played four ODI’s and one T20I. He impressed one and all with his attacking style when he hit a one-day half-century from 22 balls, the equal third-fastest 50 by an Australian in ODIs.
He made a return to his birth nation in 2012 and played 4 tests, 85 ODI’s and 32 T20I’s for the Black Caps. His best one-day innings was his 170 from 99 balls against Sri Lanka in Dunedin in 2015.
In June 2017, Luke Ronchi made his decision to quit international cricket. He will be remembered for lending constant encouragement to the bowlers from behind the stumps and for his brutal instincts with the bat in hand.
6. Adam Voges
At 35, Adam Voges made his Test debut for Australia against the West Indies in June 2015 and scored a brilliant century.
He was on a marathon “run” from December 2015 to February 2016 breaking Sachin Tendulkar”s record for the most runs between dismissals in Test cricket.
In February 2017, Voges announced his retirement from international cricket. However, the good news is that we can see him in action with the Perth Scorchers in a couple of weeks.
7. Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra, popularly known as “Nehra JI” thanks to the name given by Viru has played his last international game on November 1 at his home ground- Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. The DDCA renamed both ends of the ground as “Ashish Nehra End” on the occasion of his farewell match and he received accolades from cricketing circles across the globe.
His stamp in Indian cricket will be the 6/23 against England in the 2003 World Cup. He returned with economical figures in the epic semi-final clash against Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup and unfortunately missed out the final due to an injury.He played his last test in 2004 against Pakistan and could not prolong his career as he underwent surgeries and suffered many injuries through the course of his career.
However, he played a successful role in the 3-0 T20I series win against the Aussies in 2016 and mentored young bowlers like Bumrah and Hardik in the 2016 T20 WC. He has had a stint with IPL franchises such as DD, PWI, CSK and SRH and is undoubtedly an inspiration for aspiring fast bowlers for the way he crossed numerous hurdles with a hunger to serve Indian cricket.
8. Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan (MisYou)
World cricket witnessed a huge outpouring of emotions in May 2017 as two stalwarts of Pakistan bid goodbye to international cricket. Both Misbah and Younis played their last test against West Indies at Roseau, Dominica.
Misbah and 2007 T20 WC final are synonymous- unfortunate for him considering the result. But, he has been a prolific leader and a guiding force for Pakistan stars like Yasir, Sarfaraz, and Amir. He has stood strong and backed his players amidst highs and lows. He holds the record jointly for the second fastest test century and has bailed Pakistan out of trouble in several ODI’s despite not registering a century, after all, his contribution is beyond numbers.
On-drives and sweeps have a strong correlation with Younis. He is the only Pakistan batsman in the 10,000 test runs club and is the first player to score test centuries in 11 countries. He holds the record for most centuries in fourth innings and has been a lynchpin in the middle order for close to 2 decades. He was the leader of the pack that came out triumphant in the 2009 T20 world cup
9. Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw, and David Wiese
Opting to play for county sides under a Kolpak deal as opposed to representing the country can be an incredibly tough decision. Abbott and Rossouw, after much thought, inked a deal with Hampshire county cricket club while Wiese penned it with Sussex in January 2017.
They had their moments of glory for the Proteas but perhaps weighed in several factors before calling it quits. We can get to watch them in their full flow in T20 leagues spread across the calendar.
– by Nikhil Vadapalli