5 Cricket legends who timed their retirements to perfection

Imran Khan: The man who instilled self-belief in Pakistani cricketers
Imran Khan: The man who instilled self-belief in Pakistani cricketers

All good things have to come to an end and cricket is no exception. Deciding to retire from the game that you have played all your life is never an easy decision to make. When champions go through bad patches at the end of their careers, there is an appeal from the media and fans to know “When will you retire? Youngsters are waiting in the wings”.

However there a just a few cricketing legends who timed their retirements to perfection and ended their careers on a high.


#1 Imran Khan

Imran Khan was one of the greatest all-rounders the game has ever seen. He along with Ian Botham, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee formed the “Golden Quartet of All-rounders” which dominated the cricket arena in 1980s. Starting in the year 1971 against England, Imran added pace to his well-oiled armory and played his best cricket in his last decade where he averaged 50 with the bat and 19 with ball in 51 Tests. He is one of the eight cricketers in the history of cricket to achieve an all-Rounder’s double, scoring 3807 runs @ 37.69 and claiming 362 wickets @ 22.81 in 88 Tests.

Imran was known to be a fierce competitor and an astute leader. He had terrific man-management skills and played the role of a father figure to many promising youngsters like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Inzamam-Ul-Haq. Such was his self-belief that Pakistan became a force in the second half of the 1992 World Cup. Under his inspirational leadership, Pakistan went on to to claim their first ever global silverware in 1992 and he retired on a high after playing a pivotal role in the final against England scoring 72. Noting his contributions, the ICC inducted him in the “ICC Hall of Fame” in the year 2010.

#2 Shane Warne

Shane Warne: The Leggie who ruled World cricket
Shane Warne: The Leggie who ruled World cricket

The art of leg spin bowling had almost gone obsolete and in many ways Shane Warne revived it. After a forgetful debut against India in 1991-92 in Sydney, he enhanced his reputation as one of the best spin bowlers after picking 34 wickets against England in the 1993 Ashes, starting the tournament with his “Ball of the Century” to Mike Gatting. He continued to bamboozle teams around the world for the next few years and reveled in bowling against Daryll Cullinan. Even though Warne was hammered by Sachin Tendulkar in 1998, their on-field rivalry is popular till date. He was the tormentor-in-chief by bowling exceptional spells claiming 4-fers in both the Semis and Finals and helped Australia win the 1999 World Cup, for which he was awarded Man of the Match.

Injuries and bans in the early part of 2000s stalled his career, but he came back with a bang against Sri Lanka in 2004 becoming the first spin bowler to get 500 Test wickets. He probably bowled his best in the 2005 Ashes getting 40 wickets and in the process became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets.

Warne ended his career on a high in Sydney against England in their memorable 5-0 Ashes win in the 2006-07 series. With 708 Test wickets in 145 matches @ 25.41, he has been the best leg-spinner in cricket history. Due to his off-field antics, he lost an opportunity to captain Australia as he was known to be aggressive, but a very progressive thinker of the game.

#3 Glenn McGrath

Glenn McGrath: A once in a lifetime fast bowler
Glenn McGrath: A once in a lifetime fast bowler

Pidge a.k.a Pigeon as he was popularly known, was one of the best fast bowlers in cricket history. McGrath debuted for Australia in 1993-94 against New Zealand. His performances against a strong West Indian unit in 1995-96 earned praise. With an amazing ability to consistently bowl immaculate lines, he tormented many opening batsmen through his career. Mike Atherton was his bunny as he dismissed him a record 19 times in 17 Tests. McGrath also had a very special rivalry with Brain Lara and accounted him 18 times.

McGrath was a vital cog in a very strong Australian unit that dominated the cricketing arena in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was one of the main contributors which led to Australia winning 3 successive World Cups in 1999, 2003 and 2007. He retired against England in 2006-07 after completing a 5-0 whitewash. When he finished he was the most successful fast bowler in cricket history with 563 wickets in 124 tests @ 21.64.

After a successful campaign in the 2007 World Cup, he became the highest wicket taker in World Cup history. He was awarded the Man of the Series for his performances and McGrath retired from international cricket on a high.

#4 Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly: The man who changed Indian cricket for good
Sourav Ganguly: The man who changed Indian cricket for good

1996 was a significant year in Indian cricket, as 2 cricketing legends debuted against England at Lord's. One of them was Sourav Ganguly who went on to score a memorable 131 followed by a classy 136 in Trent Bridge. With consistent performances in both Tests and ODIs over the next few years, he was given the responsibility to lead an Indian team which was in shambles. He partnered with John Wright and both of them put Indian cricket back on track with overseas wins in England and Australia . Ganguly played an influential role in backing match-winners which resulted in India reaching the finals of the 2003 World Cup.

After a tumultuous phase with coach Greg Chappell, he was ousted from the team. Since he was a strong-minded and a conviction-driven individual, he made a historic comeback against South Africa in 2006 and became the leading run-getter for India in Tests with 1106 runs @ 61.44 in 2007. He decided to hang up his boots against Australia in the 2008 Border-Gavaskar Trophy after having scored 18575 runs in 424 International games @ 41.46 with 39 centuries.

Such was his contribution to Indian cricket, that the regular skipper MS Dhoni asked him to captain for the last one hour in his final Test match after which he was carried on the shoulders by his teammates to the dressing room.

#5 Jacques Kallis

Jacques Kallis: The most complete all-rounder in cricket's rich history
Jacques Kallis: The most complete all-rounder in cricket's rich history

In cricketing dictionary, if we have to define the term “all-Rounder” the answer would start and end with Jacques Kallis. He made his debut against England in the 1995-96 season, but it was in the year 1997 where he made an impact, scoring a valiant 101 against Australia to salvage a draw. After the retirement of Brian McMillan in 1998, he started bowling more and became one of the top all-rounders. Kallis became one of the 4 players in history to score 5 centuries in 5 consecutive Test matches. He also smashed the quickest 50 in Test cricket against Zimbabwe in just 24 balls.

He was a vital cog in a South African unit which didn’t lose an away series from 2006 till his retirement in 2013. He played his last Test match against India in Durban and scored his 45th Test hundred for which he was given a guard of honour by the visitors. He was so consistent with the bat, that his Test average never dipped below 50.

Kallis is the only player in the history of cricket to have achieved the unique double of 10000 runs and 250 wickets in both Tests and ODIs. With 25434 runs @ 49.10 with 62 centuries and 565 wickets in 519 international matches, all his feats will stand the test of time and it makes him arguably cricket’s greatest all-rounder ever.

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Edited by Sarah Waris