Retirements that left the Cricketing World in shock

Retirements often leave the cricketing fans as well as pundits of the game with a sense of void. It is with this predicament that the retirement of South Africa's AB De Villiers has proceeded to send shockwaves across the Cricketing world.

De Villiers, a veteran of 114 Test and 228 ODI and 78 T20Is took to Twitter to announce his retirement from International cricket with immediate effect.

I’ve made a big decision today pic.twitter.com/In0jyquPOK

— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) May 23, 2018

Regarded as one of the greatest entertainers of the modern era, de Villiers's skills defied expectations, and he holds the record for the fastest 50, 100, and 150 in ODIs.

Having played a crucial part in South Africa's Test series wins over India and Australia, his ABD's retirement comes at a time, when everyone was expecting him to give a final shot of winning a 50-over World Cup, his long-standing dream.

However, De Villiers is not the only cricketer, who has managed to send World Cricket in a tizzy with his sudden retirement.

Today, in this blog, we will have a look at famous cricketers whose sudden decision to retire sent shockwaves across the Cricketing world.

Here's my compilation:

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#5 MS Dhoni

Dhoni retired after the 2014 Boxing Day Test

India was battling for a draw in the Boxing Day Test, with their skipper MS Dhoni gritting it out in the middle at 24, when the match was called off at the MCG - with four overs left in the day's play.

Dhoni, in his trademark fashion, uprooted a stump, like he has always done, and had made no qualms of his retirement in the post-match captain's press conference.

It was only after the BCCI released a press release which cited "the strain of playing all formats" as the reason for retiring from Test cricket.

Dhoni, one of India's most successful captain, presided over 27 wins in 60-Test tenure, however with the string of overseas routes that saw India won just two out of 22 away Tests since 2011 and lost 13.

#4 Graeme Smith

Smith holds the World record of leading a Test side in 109 matches.

A veteran of 117 Tests, with 109 (a world record) of them coming in as the leader of his country, Graeme Smith's shock retirement sent the entire cricketing world in a tizzy.

Smith, 33, announced his retirement, revealing the news to his teammates in the middle of the 2014 Australia's Test tour of South Africa, in which he had struggled against the pace of Mitchell Johnson, having scrapped to just 45 runs in six innings.

A veteran of 117 Test matches, Smith was handed over the captaincy at a tender age of 23, with just eight Test matches under his belt.

Smith's captaincy mirror imaged his personality; tenacious, strong, and aggressive. His finest hour as captain will forever be the back-to-back overseas Test series wins in England and Australia in 2007/08 and 2012/13 season.

He had a plethora of daddy hundreds including twin double-hundreds in England back in 2003, Smith's tenacity and baptism with fire was on full display when he walked out to bat with a broken hand in a bid to save the Test match for his side.

In 117 Test matches, Smith accumulated 9265 runs at an average of 47.76 that included 27 hundred and five double tons.

#3 Brendon McCullum

McCullum scored the fastest hundred in his final Test

A modern-day custodian of playing within the 'spirit of the game', Brendon McCullum's announcement to retire at the age of 34 sent shockwaves around the cricketing world.

McCullum, who led his team all the way to the 2015 World Cup final, announced his retirement, after leading his team to a 2-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka, and that the succeeding two-Test runner against the visiting Aussies will be his final hurrah in International Cricket.

The first Kiwi batsman to breach 1000 runs in a calendar year (2014), and the joint record holder of most Test sixes alongside Gilchrist, to go along with 194 Test catches and 11 stumpings, McCullum signed off his International career, with a breathtaking 145 off just 79 balls in his final test against Australia, which Australia won by seven wickets.

#2 Adam Gilchrist

Gilchrist's finest hour in Cricket

One of the greatest wicket-keeping batsman, someone who revolutionized the role of a wicket-keeper batsman, Gilchrist's fans were left in shock and disarray when the Aussie decided to hang up his boots at the end of the 2007-08 Border Gavaskar Trophy.

Gilchrist's retirement came barely 24 hours after breaching past the world record for dismissals. His announcement came at the end of the third day of the 4th Test between Australia and India at the Adelaide Oval.

Gilchrist played 96 Test matches for Australia and collected 414 dismissals, the highest at the time of his retirement, but it was a fearless approach to batting that will forever remain his legacy.

Gilchrist's finest hour as a Test batsman arrived in 1999, when he (149), along with Justin Langer (127) was involved in a match-winning partnership of 238 at Hobart to lead the Aussies to a preposterous win.

#1 Sourav Ganguly

Ganguly in his Final hurrah

Barely one-year after making his comeback to the Indian team after the Chappel fiasco, which led to his ouster from the set-up back in 2005, Sourav Ganguly, announced to the cricketing world prior to the 2008 Border Gavaskar Trophy, in a pre-series conference that the ensuing series would be his final hurrah in Test cricket.

It was coming for a while, especially after Ganguly was overlooked for the Irani Cup match between Rest of India and Delhi.

A veteran of 113 Tests matches, and one of India's most successful captain (21 wins in 49 Tests), Ganguly accumulated 7212 runs at an average of 42.18 and a Brobdingnagian 11363 runs in 311 ODIs at an average of 40.73, which included 22 tons.