Cricket is an extremely tormenting sport that needs the highest levels of fitness for an individual to survive throughout the years. One mindless stroke of misfortune and the world is going to turn in the reverse direction for any decorated athlete.
A very few have withstood the test of time and still continue to claw their way in the international cricketing canon. Especially the ones who started their journey in the 1990’s have been wiped off by the tentacles of time and only a handful cricketers still remain. We will look at 3 players from the 90’s who are still to call retirement from international cricket
3. Shoaib Malik – Pakistan
The start to this prolonged career of Malik was against West Indies in 1999 at the tender age of just 17 years. He was introduced to the Pakistani side as a spinner and was batting in the last slot.
However, with due course of time, his batting got a significant upper hand, that evolved him into a batting all-rounder and his bowling ability was just an additional asset for the captains whom he played under.His bowling figures were also impressive as he managed to rope in 156 scalps and bragged about a miserly economy rate which saw him sneaking in with valuable overs in the middle.
Though he is no longer a part of the Test squad, he still continues to be a vital cog in their batting unit and will be a major force to reckon with in the shorter formats of the games.
2. Chris Gayle – West Indies
The 40-year-old made his debut in 1999 against India where he was sent packing for just 1 run. However, that was just an unfortunate incident that would later go on to see him piling up runs in a snap of a finger and eventually would turn into the most dominant opener in the shorter versions of the game.
He has managed to score 19,322 international runs, disseminated amongst all formats of the sport which also stayed witness to his monumental 333 in Test cricket. Though he is no longer a participant in the longest format of the game, Gayle was one of the best players of Test cricket two as he became one of the four individuals, vaunting about two triple centuries in Test Cricket.
As of now, his international appearances are limited to handful, rather sparse, but according to vox populi, he may still be granted that singular performance that will give him the chance to call it a day in international cricket.
1. Harbhajan Singh – India
Though an unofficial curtain has already been drawn on the turbanator’s glittering span of time in the 22 yards, he is still to announce his retirement from international cricket, which very much makes him someone who is still active in the roster.
Making his debut in 1998 against Australia, India’s premium offie couldn’t really bag scintillating numbers to back his cause but exhibited spasmodic bursts of excellence with the ball in his hand.He also formed one of the most menacing spin-duos of international cricket with India’s finest spinner, Anil Kumble.
However, he lost his plot in the international roster after the emergence of Ashwin and Jadeja, who have formed an imperative alliance to replace other options. Now with Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja cementing their place in the national squad, chances are absolutely slim of his comeback to the international roster, despite the best of his efforts in IPL.
