4 Indian cricketers whose ODI careers seem to have ended

Presently, the Indian team is in its most prominent form. Overcoming all the barriers, the Indian players have consistently dominated the opposition teams. Its credit goes to those stars who took the level of Indian cricket from ground to sky.

Led by Viv Richards, the West Indian team during the 19th century showed dominance by remaining at the no 1 spot for a long time. During their era, they had the most star-studded line-up which comprised big guns like Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, and many more. The same legacy is now being carried forward by India. Kapil Dev‘s men inspired the entire nation to adopt the cricketing culture. However, it was Sourav Ganguly who revolutionized the Indian team which currently is being led by Virat Kohli.

The Indian team have outplayed all the teams at home and have improved their performance overseas as well. But, success does not come without bold decisions and the Indian team management has taken several bold decisions in the recent past which has led to the exit of various top stars of the country.

It seems like those stars’ ODI career is on the verge of extinction due to their continuous failures. Here are the 4 Indian cricketers whose ODI careers have potentially ended -

#4 Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma last played an ODI in the year 2016 against Australia

Ishant Sharma has continued to show his class in the longest form of the game. He is playing the lead role for India’s bowling line-up in the Test format. But due to his bad performances in limited overs cricket, he is being ignored by the selectors.

Ishant last played an ODI match for India on 23 January 2016 at the Sydney Cricket Ground against the mighty Australian side. Australia outperformed the Indian side that year by winning this ODI series by 4-1. Even though Ishant emerged out as the leading wicket-taker in that series, he didn’t get much chance pertaining to his injury issues.

He has bagged 115 wickets so far from his 80 ODI matches averaging 30.98 runs per wicket. Due to the rise of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant may not get any further chances in this format. Hence, it looks like the ODI career of Ishant Sharma has ended.

#3 Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin last played the ODI format in 2017 against West Indies

Referring to the spinning nature of Indian pitches, the Indian side has always played with two main spin bowlers. Earlier, the spin duo for India was formed by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. But this duo has now been replaced by Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the past few months.

During his peak time, Ashwin was the go-to spin bowler for India in crucial situations. With his ability to turn the ball in both the directions, he bagged the wickets of many legends in his career. His carrom ball was the most difficult one for the opposition to judge. But suddenly, Ashwin has lost his charm in this format while securing his place in the Test format. After the youngsters entered the ODI team, Ashwin has failed to find a place for himself.

He was at his best in his golden era as he picked 150 wickets in his ODI career with an average of 32.91. It has been a year now since Ashwin last played in ODI and now it seems impossible for him to make a comeback.

#2 Suresh Raina

Suresh Raina was not in great form during his comeback in the ODI format after 3 years

The star from Uttar Pradesh, Suresh Raina, has faced various ups and downs in his cricketing career. During his arrival into the world of cricket, he was the main cornerstone for the Indian side. He is the only guy in the entire team who plays fearlessly and can hit sixes right from the first ball.

But due to his technical mistakes, he cannot convert his small starts into bigger ones. Every time when he looks focused, he throws his wickets by playing an unnecessary shot. The bouncer ball is the main drawback for this great batsman.

Raina is possibly the solution of India’s middle order conundrum but is not getting many chances due to his consistent failures. He has so far scored 5568 runs in ODI format which included 5 centuries and 36 half centuries. It seems like the ODI career for Raina has ended with his constant failures in the domestic seasons too.

#1 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh completely lost his form after the 2011 World cup due to cancer

Yuvraj Singh played the lead role for India in the 2011 ICC World Cup. Yuvraj always had the upper hand in India’s win with his heroic performances. In spite of having a dangerous disease of cancer during that tournament, he gave his first priority to his nation and emerged as the player of the series from that tournament.

But after his battle with cancer, he has not been the same player. Even though he made a comeback to cricket after beating cancer, he didn’t have that previous charm. Fitness has been one of the leading concerns for Yuvraj. Now, it is almost impossible for him to make an entry into the Indian team with various stars like Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, KL Rahul already warming the bench.

Referring to some stats, Yuvraj has so far scored 8701 runs from 304 matches averaging at 36.5 with the strike rate of 87. Domestic seasons haven’t been great for him as he hasn’t shined much for Punjab.