"Who retires so early?" - Aakash Chopra on the spate of recent international retirements

Former India batter Aakash Chopra has acknowledged that players are taking premature retirement from international cricket. However, he opined that they have every right to do so to secure their future.

South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen and the West Indies' Nicholas Pooran recently announced their international retirements across all formats. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who retired from T20Is after the 2024 T20 World Cup, bid adieu to Test cricket during IPL 2025.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener wondered why international cricket is seeing a spate of early retirements.

"Everyone is retiring. What exactly is happening? There is a huge list of players who have retired, and it seems like some of them have retired early. Who retires so early? Someone is leaving a format, and someone is leaving international cricket totally. Some are not taking central contracts. Kane Williamson is one of them," he said (0:30).

Chopra noted that the cricketers' viewpoint is to earn enough money in their prime to enjoy a decent post-retirement life.

"Some people are asking whether it's a country vs club debate. The cricketers' point of view is very simple - 'I have a very limited time span, my shelf life is very short.' When you buy a biscuit or a milk packet, best before is written on it. The 'best before' comes with every player," the cricketer-turned-commentator observed.

"Then you realize that if you don't achieve your full potential in a particular time frame, when the sun sets on your career, you will be alone with your family. So he is not okay with where he is right now, and if he becomes a T20 freelancer for the next four or five years and earns a lot of money by playing across the world, he can almost guarantee his happy retirement," he added.

Aakash Chopra acknowledged that Indians, since they are monetarily blessed, are unable to understand the other players' predicament at times. He pointed out that players in some countries are driving taxis or working as plumbers to earn a living after retirement.

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"It's easier to say no" - Aakash Chopra on players like Heinrich Klaasen and Nicholas Pooran retiring from international cricket

Nicholas Pooran has retired from international cricket at the age of 29. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra highlighted that players like Heinrich Klaasen and Nicholas Pooran find it easier to retire from international cricket as they don't earn enough while playing for their countries.

"Assuming you are a South African cricketer like Heinrich Klaasen or a West Indian cricketer like Nicholas Pooran, your earning potential to play for the country is so limited that it is not going to suffice. It's easier to pursue if you are with a rich board, but if you are with some other board that doesn't have money, it's easier to say no," he said (3:50).

The analyst added that certain boards' arrogance also forces players to quit international cricket.

"From the board's point of view, some of them have their hands tied. They don't have money. So where will they give from? In some cases, like the West Indies, there used to be a tussle. There is a different ego battle going on there. So one gets upset very quickly. If you are not accommodating, then I am going," Chopra observed.

To conclude, Aakash Chopra opined that experts and fans don't have the right to say that players shouldn't retire early from international cricket. While acknowledging that the country might have made the player, he added that everyone comes with a sell-by date and needs to make the most of it before that.