5 star players who retired from international cricket before turning 30 ft. Nicholas Pooran

On Tuesday, June 10, West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from international cricket. Pooran, 29, is among those rare cricketers to have hung up their boots from international cricket before having turned 30.

The former West Indies white-ball captain is now expected to become a regular part of franchise leagues across the world. Having made his T20I debut in 2016 and ODI debut in 2019, Pooran played 167 matches across both formats. He was last seen in action for the Windies in an ODI in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers and in a T20I in late 2024 against Bangladesh.

Interestingly, Pooran is not the only one to have taken such a big call so early in his career. In this listicle, we take a look at five players who retired from international cricket before turning 30:

#5 James Taylor (England)

Former England batter James Taylor is one of the biggest names on this list. Having been diagnosed with a rare heart disease called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), Taylor was forced to retire in 2016, when he was just 26 years old. He played seven Tests and 27 ODIs for England.

Taylor was a fine batter and a high achiever in domestic cricket, turning out in 139 first-class matches. In English county cricket, he played for Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. He earned his Test cap in 2012 in Leeds in England's home series against South Africa. Interestingly, in the last but one innings Taylor played in professional cricket, against South Africa A in a List A encounter, he scored 116.

#4 Craig Kieswetter (England)

Craig Kieswetter of the Warriors during the Ram Slam T20 match between Chevrolet Knights and Chevrolet Warriors at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium on November 02, 2014, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images).

Former England wicketkeeper-batter Craig Kieswetter, who played a vital role in them breaking their ICC duck and winning the 2010 T20 World Cup by beating Australia in the final (and also earning the Player of the Match award), suffered a serious eye injury when he was 27, and had to retire, as a result.

Kieswetter, born in South Africa, was a hard-hitting opening batter who was acrobatic behind the stumps. The ex-Somerset player turned up for England in 46 ODIs and 25 T20Is, averaging 30 and 21, respectively, with the bat in hand. He was extremely reliable behind the stumps as well, effecting 65 dismissals in ODIs and 20 in T20Is.

#3 Aaqib Javed (Pakistan)

Former Pakistan seamer Aaqib Javed, known for his high action and getting the ball to move back in dangerously at all stages of a match, called it a day when he was 26, amid a lot of match-fixing controversies. Although he was seen as one of the few players who were clean, Javed was perhaps a victim of the circumstances.

Many years later, in an interview, Javed was quoted as saying that his career came to a premature end because he refused to fix matches for his country when asked to do so by influential people. The seamer played in 22 Tests and 163 ODIs for Pakistan, picking up a total of 236 international wickets, which is a remarkable feat.

#2 Will Pucovski (Australia)

Will Pucovski is perhaps the most unfortunate player on this list. Earmarked as one of the brightest cricketers to have come out of Australia and one with the potential to have a stellar career, Pucovski was the victim of far too many concussions after being hit on the head and retired from cricket at 27.

Although Pucovski has just one Test cap to his name, he showed his class in it with a stroke-filled 62 against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2021. In 2018-19, he became just the eighth Australian to make a Sheffield Shield double century before the age of 21. Pucovski scored 2350 runs in first-class cricket and boasted an average of 45.19.

#1 Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)

There is no denying that Nicholas Pooran is the biggest name on this list. The West Indies wicketkeeper-batter shocked the world with his retirement announcement on Tuesday, making further insinuations that he would continue playing franchise cricket across the world.

Still, one gets the feeling that Pooran called it a day too soon. He scored 1983 runs in 61 ODIs and 2275 runs in 106 T20Is, but unfortunately, did not feature in a single Test for the Windies. Pooran also led the Maroons in white-ball cricket in the past, but did not feature in an ODI since the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers.