From James Anderson to Ravichandran Ashwin, top 10 most heartbreaking retirements in cricket this year

New Delhi [India], December 30 : Retirements in sports is something that evokes a variety of emotions, be it regret, heartbreak, relief, a sense of unfinished business or a fairytale-like feeling, both on part of players and their fans. Very few get a privilege of retiring at the peak of their powers, with a major trophy in their hands and their fans screaming their names out loud.
Cricket in 2024 was no different as it saw many players put an end to their careers. Plenty of these retirements sent emotional fans on a nostalgic trip, watching all the highlights of their major performances, trending their names on social media through hashtags and fan-made video edits and in all, just hoping that they got to accomplish slightly more in their careers. Here are 10 biggest retirements in cricket this year.
-Rohit Sharma (T20Is)
Perhaps the most heartwarming retirement of this year. After the heartbreak of succumbing to Australia after a 10-match win streak in ICC Cricket World Cup last year at home, Rohit during T20 WC was a man on a mission. From a record fifth-T20I ton against Afghanistan at home to smashing Mitchell Starc for 29 runs in an over including four sixes, to his revengeful fifty against England in the semis, Rohit was at his destructive best in T20Is, scoring 378 runs at an average of 42.00, strike rate of 160.16, with a century and three fifties.
He top-scored for India in T20 WC, with 257 runs in eight matches at an average of 36.71, strike rate of over 156 and three half-centuries, with his 41-ball 92 against Australia being his best knock. The final pictures of Rohit in T20I clothing saw the 'Hitman' laying down on pitch in relief, tasting the Barbados soil which helped his side end their 11-year-long ICC title drought.
-Virat Kohli (T20Is)
Virat and one-man carryjobs during T20 World Cups, a story repeated too often for his country's good. After a bumper Orange Cap winning Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, in which he made 741 runs at an average of 61.75 with a century, five fifties and 38 sixes, the 36-year-old experienced a sharp dip in his form in a tournament where he thrived the most. Instead of playing the anchor-role like the old days, Virat would throw his wicket in the most 'un-Virat' ways possible on tough pitches of US and Caribbean and it seemed that the new-age T20I formula of slogging would not work on him. However during the final, he played a 'vintage Virat' knock of 76 in 59 balls, helping his team secure a seven-run win over South Africa to win the title.
In his final T20I game, India's biggest match-winner in T20Is ended up with a match-winning fifty, a 'Player of the Match' award, the highest amount of runs in T20 WC history (with 1,292 runs in 35 matches, average of 58.72, 15 fifties), and 4,188 runs in 125 T20Is at an average of 48.69, strike rate of 137.04, a century and 38 fifties.
-David Warner (All formats of international cricket)
Perhaps Australia's finest all-format opener retired from all formats of the game after a Super Eight exit from T20 World Cup, in which he made 178 runs in seven matches with two fifties. With his final T20I game against India, concluded an era of audacious hitting, unmatched charisma and aggression on the field and all-format brilliance.
In 112 Tests for Australia, Warner scored 8,786 runs at an average of 44.59, with 26 centuries and 37 fifties in 205 innings. His best score is 335*. He is the fifth-highest run-getter for Australia in Tests.
Playing 161 ODIs, Warner scored 6,932 runs at an average of 45.30 and a strike rate of above 97, making 22 centuries and 33 fifties in 159 innings. His best score is 179. He is the sixth-highest run-getter in ODIs for Australia.
Warner is Australia's highest run-getter in T20Is, scoring 3,277 runs in 110 matches at an average of 33.43 and a strike rate of 142.47. He scored a century and 28 fifties, with the best score of 100*.
With 18,995 runs in 383 games, 49 centuries, 98 fifties, two ICC Cricket World Cup titles, one ICC T20 World Cup and ICC World Test Championship title each, Warner retired as Australia's second-highest run-getter and one of the greatest all-format openers of all time.
-James Anderson (all formats of international cricket)
England's ageless pace wonder finally pulled down curtains on his glorious career during the first Test against West Indies at Lord's in July, taking four wickets in his final match. As inspiring Anderson was to deliver remarkable, low-economy spells, taking crucial wickets, staying at the top of his fitness game at the age of 42, retirement had to come for sake of future generation.
The fast bowler bid farewell to Test cricket after the first Test at Lord's as the third-highest Test wicket-taker to grace the game. The 41-year-old took four wickets in the Test match to finish with 704 career scalps in 188 Tests at an average of 25.45, the third behind Muttiah Muralidaran and the late Shane Warne. In 401 international matches, he ended up falling short of 1,000 wickets, at 991 wickets at an average of 27.28, 34 five-wicket hauls and best figures of 7/42. He is also England's leading wicket-taker in ODIs (269 scalps) and overall, their first pacer to reach 700 Test scalps and a T20 WC winner in 2010.
-Shikhar Dhawan (All formats of international cricket and Indian domestic cricket)
A name that often slipped under the radar due to otherwordly brilliance of Rohit Sharma and Virat in ODIs particularly, Dhawan was India's crisis man in ICC ODI tournaments, often giving explosive starts to make things easier for Rohit-Virat in later overs.
Having last played for India in December 2022, in 167 ODI appearances, the southpaw produced swashbuckling performances and racked up 6,793 runs at an average of 44.1, including 17 centuries and 39 fifties.
In the longest format of cricket, where he stitched up memorable partnerships with Murali Vijay, Dhawan garnered 2,315 runs in 34 matches at an average of 40.6. His Test career was laced with seven tons and five half-centuries.
In the T20I format, Dhawan made 68 appearances and scored 1,759 runs at an average of 27.9, including 11 fifties.
He top-scored in 2013 and 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, with former a title-winning campaign in UK. With 701 runs in 10 matches at an average of 77,88, three centuries and three fifties, he is India's top run-getter in the tournament and overall third. He was also India's top run-getter and fifth-overall in 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup with 412 runs at an average of 51.50, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score was 137.
He was crowned Player of the Tournament in U-19 WC 2004, Champions Trophy in 2013 and Asia Cup 2018.
-Moeen Ali (All formats of international cricket)
One of the most underrated names in world cricket, left the international scene quietly in September after helping England retain the 2023 Ashes with some impactful performances and sticking around till the T20 World Cup during his team's semifinal run.
The all-rounder featured in 298 international matches from 2014-2024 for the English side in his cricketing career.
Moeen made his international debut in 2014 against West Indies. He scored 6678 international runs at an average of 25.20, with eight tons and 28 fifties and picked 366 wickets at an average of 39.09. He won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup with the Three Lions.
-Tim Southee (all formats of international cricket)
One of the many modern-day greats from the class of 2008 ICC U19 World Cup, Southee made an incredible impact for Kiwis, mostly with the ball, but sometimes with the bat as well.
After the home series against England recently, Southee walked away from the game with 776 international wickets at an average of 29.57, the most by any Kiwi bowler across all formats. Southee secured 391 Test wickets at an average of 30.26, the second-most by any NZ bowler, behind Richard Hadlee (431 scalps). He is the leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 164 wickets at an average of 22.38, the most by any bowler. With 221 ODI wickets, he also is the third-highest wicket-taker in ODIs for Kiwis, behind Kyle Mills (240 wickets) and Daniel Vettori (297 wickets).
He was also a capable lower-order batter, with 3,288 runs in 394 matches at an average of 14.11, with eight fifties. Most of these runs came in Tests, making 2,245 runs at an average of 15.48, with seven fifties. His tally of 98 sixes in Tests is the fourth-highest by any Test cricketer.
However, he could not win any white-ball trophy with Kiwis, and secured the inaurural ICC World Test Championship 2019-21 title, NZ's first-ever world title in any form of the sport.
Ravichandran Ashwin (all formats of international cricket)
Words like 'nerd', 'scientist', 'genius' are regularly associated with cricketers. However, with his understanding of the game's rules, right use of right tactics at the right time and role in a 12-year-long unbeaten home run for Team India, Ashwin earned a repute as one of the greatest thinkers in the sport. Be it his insightful interviews or his well-thought out Youtube discussions, they garnered as much attention as his all-round excellence.
However, the rare home set-back to NZ was the breaking point for this champion player, who announced his retirement during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia after Brisbane Test, having last played the pink-ball Adelaide Test and picking up a wicket, scoring 29 runs.
In 106 Tests for India, the legendary all-rounder took 537 wickets at an average of 24.00, with best figures of 7/59. He took 37 five-wicket hauls and eight ten-fers in his Test career. He is the seventh highest wicket taker in Tests overall and second-highest for India behind legendary spinner Anil Kumble (619 scalps). He also has 2nd most five wicket hauls in Tests, behind Sri Lankan spin icon Muttiah Muralitharan (67).
He also made 3,503 runs at an average of 25.75, with six centuries and 14 fifties in 151 innings and best score of 124.
In 116 ODIs, the ace spinner took 156 wickets at an average of 33.20, with best figures of 4/25. He also made 707 runs at an average of 16.44, with one fifty, a knock of 65 in 63 innings. He is the 13th-highest wicket ...
With 765 scalps in 287 matches, he is India's second-highest wicket taker across all formats, next to Kumble (953). He also won the 2011 50-Over World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy with India.
-South Africa's Dean Elgar (All forms of international cricket)
Though not the biggest in the list in terms of superstardom, Elgar's tough Test innings have made him one of the grittiest and gutsiest players on this list. He retired from all of international cricket after home Test series against India at home.
Elgar, 37, enjoyed an impressive Test career since making his debut for South Africa in 2012, scoring 5,347 runs across 86 matches at an average of 37.92, with 14 centuries and 23 fifties. Though in eight ODIs, he could score just 104 runs in seven innings with best score of 42. His rock-solid knocks and defence provided stability to Proteas as they moved on from the golden era of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis etc.
-Shakib al Hasan (Tests and T20Is)
One of the 'Big Five' stars for Bangladesh alongside Tamim Iqbal, Mahmadullah, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mashrafe Mortaza that defined their cricket in 21st century, pulled down curtains on his Test and T20I career this year after Test series against India.
With an eye on the ICC Champions Trophy, Shakib will feature in ODIs but his team will miss his all-round services in other two formats dearly considered his unmatched consistency with both bat and ball.
In 71 Tests, he scored 4,609 runs at an average of 37.77, with five centuries and 31 fifties and best score of 217. He is Bangladesh's third-highest Test run-getter. With 246 runs in 71 Tests at an average of 31.72, best figures of 7/36 and 19 five-wicket hauls, he is Bangladesh's top wicket taker in Tests.
Coming to T20Is, he is team's leading run-getter with 2,551 runs in 129 matches and 127 innings at an average of 23.19 and 13 fifties. His best score is 84. With 149 scalps in 129 matches at an average of 20.91 and two fivers, he is also team's leading wicket-taker.