Shocked and stunned: 3 Cricketers who announced sudden retirements
In cricket, a maxim often used when hanging the boots is to retire when people ask why now rather than why not. A player’s retirement is never a personal issue in cricket. Instead, the discussions go on for ages depending on the popularity of the player. There have been some surprising retirements in the modern era too. Here are three cricketers who announced sudden retirements in recent times.
AB de Villiers
South African legend AB de Villiers announced retirement from international cricket in May 2018. It is one of the most shocking retirements in the history of the game. Given that the ODI World Cup was only 12 months away, his decision did not seem believable. More so, he was looking in great touch for his side, and there were no signs of discomforts in his batting.
I’ve made a big decision today pic.twitter.com/In0jyquPOK
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) May 23, 2018
After retirement from international cricket, he has been taking part in various T20 leagues around the World. He has shown his classic touch even in the IPL. There were rumours of him returning back to the national side for the T20 World Cup, but it did not happen eventually.
AB de Villiers had a great career for South Africa, particularly in the ODI format. He is the only player to score over 9000 ODI runs with an average of 50+ and a strike rate of more than 100. He remained as the No.1 ODI batsman for a long time.
Mahmudullah
Before entering the field today, the Bangladesh team gave Mahmudullah a guard of honor. #Bangladesh #Cricket #Mahmudullah #Mahmudullahretire pic.twitter.com/ANID2goMN8
— 𝑺𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒂𝒎𝒊 🏏 (@SamiBlitz) July 11, 2021
Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah announced his Test retirement in the middle of the Test match recently. His decision was beyond imagination for many fans. More so, Mahmudullah had scored 150 runs in the first innings of this Test against Zimbabwe. He will continue playing in ODI and T20I format. Mahmudullah also became the first player from Bangladesh to hit a century in the final Test of his career.
Brendon McCullum
Former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum decided to retire from international cricket in December 2015. His decision was quite surprising given the next T20 World Cup was only two months away. He was an integral part of the Kiwi team for a long time.
It’s been real… pic.twitter.com/sdCqLZTDz6
— Brendon McCullum (@Bazmccullum) August 5, 2019
In his last Test match, McCullum broke the record for the fastest ever century in Test cricket. He impressed with the bat even in his last ODI series played against Australia. In T20I cricket, he was the highest run-getter for a long time. After retirement from national duties, McCullum played in different T20 leagues across the World. He is currently working as the coach of Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL. He is also coaching the Knight Riders franchise in CPL T20.
