Cricket News
Five players who might retire from at least one format in 2024
In the next few years, teams across the globe will play at least one Global Event every year. With the Test Championship final to be played every two years, there is no scope of let up in the longest format of the game. Apart from this, the T20 World Cup is played in the gap of every two years. The Champions Trophy, which was scrapped in 2017, was announced four years later.
The tournament will be played in 2025, followed by another edition four years later. Lastly, every ODI World Cup will have a four-year gap. Thanks to all this, the players will have a lot of workload to manage, which might lead to retirement as well. In this listicle, we will discuss five players who might retire from at least one format of the game.
Five players who might retire from at least one format
1. Shikhar Dhawan
The Champions Trophy 2013 winner has been one of the great players in ODI cricket since 2013. Talking about his ODI career, he has played 167 games and has 6793 runs averaging 44.11 including 17 hundreds. Early this year, Dhawan was dropped from the team due to his poor performances in 22 ODIs last year. At the age of 38, it is highly unlikely that he will make a comeback in the team.
2. Rohit Sharma
The current India skipper hasn’t played a T20I game since November last year. He and Virat Kohli haven’t been playing the shortest format of the game apart from the IPL. Recent reports suggest that Sharma might not only get to play the T20 World Cup 2024 but also lead the team. Skipper Hardik Pandya will only make his comeback during the IPL 2024.
With Sharma doing well as a captain during the ODI World Cup 2023, the selectors might consider him again. Meanwhile, after the T20 World Cup 2024, if he plays, the right-hander might retire from the shortest format of the game.
3. Virat Kohli
The former India skipper is reported not to play in the T20 World Cup 2024. As he has also not played in T20Is, Kohli might decide to retire from the format. This decision might be influenced by his willingness to keep playing the longer formats of the game.
4. Ajinkya Rahane
The former India vice-captain has been dropped from the Test team for the tour of South Africa. Since early last year, he hasn’t played much for India apart from the WTC 2023 final and two Tests in the West Indies. With him being on the wrong side of the 30s and younger players rising, it is possible that he may not play for India again.
5. Cheteshwar Pujara
Another Test legend, Pujara seems to be on his way out of the game. In the last couple of years, he hasn’t been at his best and hasn’t played for the national side either. With him being at 35, it is highly unlikely that he will make a comeback in the team.