Cricketers all-around the world have a limited number of years to perform. While some cricketers end up playing for a longer period of time, some gets curtailed due to their form and fitness. Often we see cricketers announce retirement only to reverse back the decision later.
Today we will be talking about some cricketing greats who made a comeback to their national team after hanging their boots from international cricket.
Shahid Afridi: Shahid Afridi and Comeback from Retirement, name a better love story than this, we will wait...
The Former Pakistan all-rounder have had numerous stints of retirement sagas in the past. He retired 5 times in his last 11 years of international cricket. He first retired from Tests in 2006, only to make a comeback after 2 weeks. He finally bid adieu to Test cricket in 2010. The Star All-rounder retired from ODIs and T20s too after the 2011 World Cup but made a comeback after 5 months. He finally retired from ODIs in 2015 but continued to play T20s before bowing out of the game in 2018.
Dwayne Bravo: DJ Bravo has been a domestic household name for West Indies as well as for franchise cricket all around the world. Bravo has been a phenomenal all-rounder for the West Indies and was an integral part of the West Indies squad that won 2 T20 World Cups in 2012 and 2016.
Bravo has been playing for the Windies ever since 2004. However his ODI and Test Career somehow finished after 2014 and he continued to feature in the T20s solely. However disputes with management along with fitness issues compelled Bravo to call it a day in 2018. However, he came back from retirement in 2019 and played in the World T20 in UAE in 2021. However post the World Cup, Bravo announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Kevin Pietersen: Kevin Pietersen is often touted as one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball. Pietersen has had a controversial career with the 3 Lions. He retired from limited overs cricket in 2011, only to focus in the longer formats of the game. However he returned back from retirement just months later and played for England. After the Ashes debacle in 2014, Pietersen was dropped from the side. He played across various T20 leagues across the globe and even contemplated a move to the South African international side. However all his hopes ended and he retired from all formats of cricket in 2018.
Ambati Rayudu: Another player who had issues with the word "retirement" and “u-turn from retirement" is India's Ambati Rayudu. Rayudu retired from all forms of cricket after the 2019 World Cup snub. He however made a U-turn within 2 months and made himself available for all formats for India. After CSK's ouster from IPL 2022, Rayudu announced that he is going to retire but deleted the tweet a few moments later.
Sanath Jayasuriya: The Srilankan legend is another player who has made a U-turn from retirement. Jayasuriya who was an integral part of the Srilankan team in the 90s and early 2000s decided to retire from Tests in 2006. He however reversed his decision a couple of days later and remained an integral part of his team till 2007. His form declined and he was snubbed from the 2011 World Cup squad. Surprisingly he was called back post the World Cup for an England series and Jayasuriya played 2 ODIs and 1 T20 before hanging his boots.
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