Cricket is called a gentlemen’s game and there are cricketers who have contributed their life for the game and made it entertaining and worth watching. Be it Test, One Day International or T20s, they have always played with true spirit.
The year 2015 has seen many cricketers hang their boots, from ODI, Tests and T20s. NewsMobile jots down a few legendary cricketers who retired in 2015!
Virender Sehwag
Bowlers feared him when he was on the crease. One of the aggressive batsmen of Team India, Virender Sehwag was a class in himself. With a strike arte of over 49, he has scored Test runs at a faster pace than anyone in the history of cricket.
Sehwag retired on his 37th birthday, on October 20, more than two-and-a-half years after his last appearance for the national team.
Statistics
Matches: Tests 104, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is
Runs: 8586 (T), 8273 (ODIs), 394 (T20)
Highest Score: 319 (T), 19 (ODIs), 68 (T20)
50s: 32, 38, 2
100s: 23, 15, 0
Zaheer Khan
He was a batsman’s nightmare. He ripped apart a team’s strong batting line up. With 610 international wickets, Zaheer finished as one of India’s most successful bowlers. He was also the fourth-highest wicket-taker for India across formats.
Known for his swingers, Zaheer bid adieu to international and first class cricket on October 15.
Statistics
Matches: 92, 200, 17
Wickets: 311, 282, 17
Best Bowling Figure: 7/87, 5/42, 4/19
5-wickets haul: 11, 1, 0
10-wickets haul: 1, 0, 0
Kumar Sangakkara
His illustrious career was compared to that of Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar. In his international career spanning over 15 years, Sangakkara has scored 12,400 Test runs with 38 centuries and an average of 57.40. In 404 ODIs, he has scored 14,234 runs with 25 tons and a staggering 93 half-centuries.
Sangakkara hang up his boots on August 25, playing his 134th and last Test, against India at PS Oval.
Statistics
Matches: 134, 404, 56
Runs: 12400, 14234, 1382
Highest Score: 319, 169, 78
50s: 52, 93, 8
100s: 38, 25, 0
Mahela Jayawardene
Mahela Jayawardene, who was regarded as one of the coolest players of the Lankan team, retired from Test cricket in 2014, but hanged his boots from ODIs after Lanka’s exit from World Cup 2015.
The former Lankan skipper has scored more than 25000 runs in International cricket, with 34 Test centuries in 149 matches.
Statistics
Matches: 149, 448, 55
Runs: 11814, 12650, 1493
Highest Score: 374, 144, 100
50s: 50, 77, 9
100s: 34, 19, 1
Shahid Afridi
Regarded as one of the hard-hitting cricketers of all time, Afridi holds the record of hitting the longest six in all the formats of the game. The 35 year old all-rounder announced his retirement from ODI cricket after the quarter-finals of World Cup 2015.
Statistics
Matches: 27, 398, 84
Runs: 1716, 8064, 1222
Highest Score: 156, 124, 54*
50s: 8, 39, 4
100s: 5, 6, 0
Michael Clarke
He led Australia to their 5th Cricket World Cup triumph, when his team defeated New Zealand in the final of the Cricket World Cup 2015 at the MCG. Under his captaincy, Aussies whitewashed arch-rivals England 5-0 during the 2013–14 Ashes series down-under & also gained the No. 1 Test ranking from South Africa after a long span of 4 years and 9 months.
Michael Clarke, announced his retirement on August 8, 2015 and retired from the game after the Ashes Series.
Statistics
Matches: 115, 245, 34
Runs: 8643, 7981, 488
Highest Score: 329*, 130, 67
50s: 27, 58, 1
100s: 28, 8, 0