It is always difficult to call it a day during one’s sports career. There are always a lot of emotions involved when a player ponders to hang his boots from the topmost level. However, he should be smart enough to know when there is no fuel left in the tank. It is important to know when one’s time is up .It is always recommended to accept it and move on. For a player, deciding when and how to declare their retirement is difficult. Many cricketers have retired at a reasonable age in the past. Often, this is the age at which most cricketers have reached their full success. Let's take a look at ten such cricketers who retired after 40.
1. Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar had announced his retirement at the age of 40. It had always been Tendulkar's most cherished aim to win the World Cup. In the 2011 World Cup, “the God of Cricket” was finally able to achieve this. Practically, he has every record in existence. Tendulkar put up an out –of –character performance to reach his 100th international century. In his 200 Test appearances, the Master Blaster amassed a spectacular career, scoring 15,921 runs. In his 463 ODI outings, the talisman batsman scored a total of 18,426 runs.
2. Bob Simpson
After playing 52 Test matches for Australia, he retired from the game in 1968; but returned to international cricket in 1977. Simpson was most likely the first to emerge from his retirement. At the age of 42, Simpson captained the national team against India. He scored 539 runs and led Australia to a 3 – 2 win. The player was succeeded by Graham Yallop after one more match as the captain in the Caribbean tour against the West Indies, which the hosts won by 3 - 1.
3. Imran Khan
Imran Khan is perhaps Pakistan's best captain. He is known for his dashing attitude and manner. He made his debut for Pakistan in 1971 and announced his initial retirement after the 1987 World Cup, but President Zia –ul – Haq persuaded him to return, which he did in style by winning the World Cup in 1992. Finally, at the age of 41, he decided to retire.
4. Javed Miandad
Javed Miandad is the finest batsman in Pakistan’s history. Miandad is regarded as one of the greatest batters of all time, famous for his last -ball six to Chetan Sharma against India in 1986. Miandad, like Imran, returned from retirement, but only for 10 days after which the then - Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto urged him to play for the squad till the 1996 World Cup. Miandad's career came to an end at the age of 40.
5. Carl Hooper
This former West Indies cricketer shocked the cricketing world by retiring three weeks before the 1999 World Cup, only to return in 2001. Hooper, like Simpson, returned to the team and captained the West Indies in the 2003 World Cup. Hooper was retained in the team, but he withdrew and eventually resigned from the game at the age of 40 because he wanted the youth to replace him.
6. Sanath Jayasuriya
Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka kept playing cricket until he was 41 years old when he played his final match in 2011. Jayasuriya was one of the most aggressive batsmen in the game's history. However, towards the latter part of his career, his performance was not up to par. As a result, he announced his international retirement after Sri Lanka’s first ODI against England, close to his 42nd birthday . In his International ODI career, the left – handed batsman amassed 6973 runs in 110 Test matches, 13,430 runs in 445 ODI matches, and 323 wickets.
7. Steve Tikolo
Following his retirement from international cricket after the 2011 World Cup, this great Kenyan all - rounder was recalled by his board in 2013 at the age of 42. He returned to Kenya and played in both One -Day and Twenty20 Internationals. On January 23, 2014, he played his last international match against the Netherlands.
8. Kevin Pieterson
This maverick English batsman abruptly announced his retirement from limited - overs cricket in 2011 to focus solely on Test cricket; but he returned after a few months. His international career ended in 2014.
9. Shahid Afridi
Shahid Afridi of Pakistan has announced his retirement on several occasions, but he has returned to the international field each time. Pakistan's finest all - rounder played until he was 43 years old but he was not at his best after his career. However, while playing of his 398 One Day Internationals, the former Pakistan captain scored 8064 runs. In his One -Day career, the leg -spinner also took 395 wickets, making him an important reason of the team's success. Afridi has represented Pakistan in 27 Test matches.
10. W.G. Grace
W.G. Grace of England was an English amateur cricketer. Just 25 days away from turning 48, he pulled out a special innings against the opposite team. After Tom Richardson knocked Australia out for 53, W.G. Grace came out to play against Ernie Jones and George Giffen, and hit a brave 66 on a dreadful Lord’s pitch; adding 105 for the second wicket with Bobby Abel. Thus it was proved that his reflexes hadn’t changed.
