Do you ever think about some famous cricketers who retired during their prime or peak? Taking retirement from any professional sport is not easy, especially cricket, the second most popular game globally. Many emotions have evacuated from their fans when an iconic cricketer retires from this magical game. It seems very painful when your favorite cricketer leaves the game. But what if some legendary cricketers retired when their career is at prime or peak. It is heartbreaking for their fans, not only their fans, but it was also painful for the whole cricket world. However, the cricket world has witnessed these types of heartbreaking moments before, so we will discuss five legendary cricketers who retired during their prime or peak.
5 Legendary Cricketers Who Retired During Their Prime or Peak
5. Ambati Rayudu (India)
This classical batsman from India has determined to play in the cricket world cup for India at least once in his lifetime. Rayudu, who started his cricketing career accordingly, became the first batsman to score a double century in the first innings and a century in the second innings of a Ranji match in 2002. He then captained India U19 in 2004 and also became a good player. He faced many difficulties and embarrassments to get a place in the national team for his dream.
Finally, he started his international career on July 24, 2013, with an ODI match against Zimbabwe, and he was unbeaten on 63 off 84 balls in his first match, scored a valuable half-century. After that, Rayudu, who joined the team, made his career closer to his dream of playing in 2018. As part of the 2019 world cup preparations, Team India confirmed his dream that Rayudu would play at the number 4 position for his outstanding performance. But dramatically, the selection committee gave Rayudu a big shock by not selecting him into the world cup squad.
However, Rayudu has been selected as an alternative player to replace someone injured during the campaign. He hopes that his dream of playing in the world cup will come true as India all-rounder Vijay Shankar and opener Shikhar Dhawan got injured and set to miss the world cup. But his hopes were shattered when the selection committee gave a place to Mayank Agarwal instead of Rayudu. Deeply saddened by this, Rayudu said goodbye to cricket at 33 during his prime, believing that his dream wouldn’t be fulfilled anymore. The decision shocked every cricket fan as well as former cricketers. He is one of the unluckiest cricketers who retired during their prime.
Check Ambati Rayudu Career Stats Here
4. Michael Clarke (Australia)
The legendary Australia batsman made his international debut on January 19, 2003, in a one-day international against England. Clarke has consistently excelled with his excellent batting since his debut and cemented his place in the team. He also made his Test debut against India in the following year, scored a stunning century in his debut. During his early days, he learned some captaincy lessons from former Aussie captain Ricky Ponting. Eventually, Clarke took over the captaincy in all three formats after Ponting’s retirement.
Clarke led Australia in ODI World Cup in 2015, helped his team to lift the 5th world cup with a stunning half-century in the final against New Zealand. However, when he emerged as captain in limited-overs cricket, he has suffered unexpected setbacks in the Test format. A series of defeats, especially in the prestigious Ashes series against their long-time rival England, put a lot of pressure on Clarke. At that time, he suddenly announced retirement to end his 13-year cricketing journey. Clarke was deeply depressed by the devastating defeat in the 2015 Ashes series following the world cup.
However, the decision surprised many cricket fans as well as former cricketers. Clarke announced his retirement when his batting form was on a high note, and he was only 34 years old. Clarke was one of the legendary cricketers who retired during their prime or peak.
Check Michael Clarke Career Stats Here
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3. Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
The legendary Sri Lanka batsman is the second-highest run-scorer in cricket history after Sachin Tendulkar and one of the best wicket-keepers in this famous game. Sangakkara started his cricketing career with an ODI against Pakistan on July 5, 2000, showed his batting ability straight away, and cemented his place in the team. He ruled Test cricket from 2005 to 2015, dominating the ICC Test batsman rankings as a number one Test batsman.
In 2006, in a Test match against South Africa, he and his teammate Mahela Jayawardene stitched 624 runs for the third wicket. Till now, it was the highest partnership for any wicket in Test cricket. He also established himself in limited-overs cricket and played a crucial role in reaching the Sri Lanka team into two world cup finals. Sangakkara also played a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s T20 world cup win in 2014, scored a half-century in the final against India.
Sangakkara tallied four consecutive centuries in the 2015 ODI world cup and set an ultimate record. Still, he is the only cricketer to score four consecutive centuries in ODI cricket history. However, in the same year, he announced his retirement from international cricket during the Test series against India. That was a bit surprising because he is at his prime when he says goodbye to cricket. Regardless of age, his batting form is always on a high note. However, he retired from cricket at the age of 37, where he can represent his team for another three years if desired. Sangakkara was one of the fabulous cricketers who retired during their prime or peak.
Check Kumar Sangakkara Career Stats Here
2. Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)
One of the most dangerous batsmen in world cricket, the New Zealand southpaw, scared many bowlers with his brutal power hitting. He’s also one of the few players who bat irrespective of the format. McCullum made his international debut in ODI format against Australia on January 17, 2002. On the initial days of his career, Brendon failed miserably as an opener. He had to bat at the number 7 and number 8 positions in the lower middle order for almost four years.
McCullum had faced many difficulties in the early stage of his career. But he slowly began to excel consistently in all three formats, became the opener again, and thickened his place in the team. McCullum scored a half-century off 20 balls at the 2007 ODI World Cup and set an excellent record for the fastest 50 in world cup history. He also entertained with his aggressive batting in the most extended format of the game. He smacked a total of 107 sixes in his Test career. Still, it was a record for most sixes by a player in Test cricket history.
McCullum also captained the New Zealand national team and led his team to many victories. He became the first New Zealand captain to take them into the ODI world cup finals when he blazes with the bat in 2015. However, in 2016, McCullum said I had nothing left to give to cricket and wanted to spend the rest of his life happily with his family.
He announced his retirement to cricket for just 34 years when his batting form was at an all-time high. In his last Test match, McCullum scored a jaw-dropping century in just 54 balls. Still, it was the all-time fastest century in Test cricket history. McCullum was one of the most destructive cricketers who retired during their prime or peak.
Check Brendon McCullum Career Stats Here
1. AB de Villiers (South Africa)
He is one of the legendary cricketers who retired during their prime or peak. This fantastic player from South Africa has gained a lot of fans worldwide with his unique batting style. In a word, a player like de Villiers in cricket is never before ever after. The most important aspect of his game is destructive batting with unbelievable consistency. Simply he can bat like the world’s dangerous batsman Sehwag; also, he can adjust his batting like mister dependable Rahul Dravid.
AB de Villiers was not so impressive in the early stage of his career, initially faced many ups and downs. However, he took everything as motivation, faced all of his failures with great courage, and constantly improved his batting. In this process, he found a unique batting style and earned the name Mr. 360. He scored the fastest 50, 100, and 150 in ODI cricket. Also, in his every hundred scored in ODI cricket, he faced less than 100 balls. AB de Villiers is the only player in ODI cricket to have an average over 50 and a strike rate of over 100.
AB de Villiers became one of the best players ever played for South Africa and captained his team in all three formats. However, he shocked everyone by saying goodbye to cricket when he competed with Virat Kohli and almost became the world’s number one batsman. AB de Villiers retired from international cricket in 2018, said that the reason for this was that he was under a lot of pressure due to playing extreme cricket and was unable to spend time with his family due to busy schedules.
His age was 34 when he announced his retirement and 6th in the ICC Test batsman rankings and 2nd in the ODI batsman rankings. It was a heartbreaking incident for every cricket fan. AB de Villiers was one of the most iconic cricketers who retired during their prime or peak.
Check AB de Villiers Career Stats Here
