3 Indian cricketers who made a comeback after announcing retirement

England all-rounder Ben Stokes made a U-turn on his ODI retirement as he made himself available for selection for the upcoming World Cup slated to be held in India from October-November.

Stokes was the pioneer of England's maiden World Cup triumph in 2019. Arguably the greatest all-rounder of the modern generation, Stokes called it quits from ODIs in July 2022. His inclusion now will certainly bolster England's chances in the quadrennial event.

The cricketing world had a divided option on Stokes deciding to come out of retirement. While many felt that given the stature of Stokes and what he brings to the table, he was an automatic choice once he reversed his decision, others were a bit baffled to see someone like Harry Brook being left out in his favour.

Coming out of retirement has been a norm in international cricket over the last few years. However, it hasn't been the case with Indian cricketers at large. Over the years, we haven't seen many Indian cricketers coming out of retirement.

That being said, let us have a look at 3 Indian cricketers who reversed their retirement:

# 1 Javagal Srinath

One of the finest Indian fast bowlers, Javagal Srinath was one of the very few Indian cricketers who came out of retirement. Srinath had announced his retirement from Test cricket in June 2002 and was subsequently left out of the ODI squad.

It was on the insistence of the then Indian captain Sourav Ganguly that Srinath was recalled for the 2002 Champions Trophy final. He then travelled to New Zealand before the World Cup in 2003 and was the most successful Indian bowler in the tournament.

Srinath carried his form in the World Cup and ended the tournament as India's leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps in 11 games. He was instrumental in India reaching the World Cup final for the 2nd time in their history.

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# 2 Ambati Rayudu

Rayudu was omitted from the 2019 World Cup squad at the last hour.

Rayudu made a name for himself very early in his youth career but couldn't quite get fast-tracked into the national side.

He decided to join the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) in 2007 and played for a couple of years before getting snapped up by the Mumbai Indians in the IPL.

Having made his national debut in 2013, Rayudu established himself as the designated No 4 for India ahead of the 2019 World Cup. Even captain Virat Kohli had counted on Rayudu as the reliable No 4.

However, he was omitted from the World Cup squad in favour of Vijay Shankar. The then chairman of selectors MSK Prasad cited the reason of Shankar's three-dimensional abilities behind his inclusion in the squad.

Rayudu created a ruckus on social media when he expressed his frustration at Shankar's inclusion. He wrote, "Just Ordered a new set of 3D glasses to watch the world cup".

He announced his retirement immediately after his exclusion, but reversed the decision in August and returned to play domestic cricket.

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# 3 Manoj Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary scored a century in his last match for India.

One of the stalwarts in Indian domestic cricket, Manoj Tiwary announced his retirement from all forms of cricket earlier this month (August 3) but later reversed his decision just 5 days later.

In a press conference on August 8, Tiwary announced that he is coming out of retirement in a bid to help his side win the elusive Ranji trophy next season. Under Tiwary's captaincy, Bengal made the final of the 2022 Ranji Trophy only to lose against Saurashtra.

"The decision taken by me was a sudden one. I was selfish in taking this decision as this might have hurt my family, teammates and fans," he was quoted as saying in a statement by Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) on Instagram.

He further mentioned that he got a scolding from his wife and decided to come back for one more year and try to help Bengal win the Ranji Trophy.