Why did 5 cricketers retire in the last 35 days, there was a stir

In the last 35 days, international cricket has seen a phase that has surprised cricket lovers. In such a short time, five legendary players of world cricket have decided to retire from different formats of cricket. These include many famous players from India, West Indies, South Africa and Australia. Some players left Test cricket, some left ODIs and some even said goodbye to their entire international career.

Nicholas Pooran took a shocking decision

The list starts with the name of West Indies star batsman Nicholas Pooran. He has surprised everyone with his decision by saying goodbye to international cricket at the age of 29. Pooran informed about his decision through an emotional Instagram post. Former West Indies T20 captain Nicholas Pooran was recently seen playing for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2025. Pooran has played 61 T20 matches and 106 ODIs in his international cricket career, in which he has scored more than 4000 runs.

Indian cricket got a double blow

This time was even more emotional for Indian cricket fans. Indian cricket got 2 big shocks in this retirement phase. The first shock was given by Indian team captain Rohit Sharma. Rohit recently won the ICC T20 World Cup for India, after which he said goodbye to the T20 format. Now he has also announced his retirement from Test cricket on 7 May. 38-year-old Rohit has played 67 Test matches, in which he has scored 4301 runs, he has 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries in Test cricket.

Just a few days after Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, one of the most successful batsmen of Team India, also said goodbye to the Test format. His decision came when the Indian team was about to leave for the England tour. Kohli has surprised everyone by suddenly retiring from Test cricket. Kohli has scored 9230 runs in 123 Test matches, which includes 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. He also retired from the T20 format in June 2024 and will now be seen playing only in the ODI format.

Klaasen and Maxwell also included in this list

South African wicketkeeper batsman Enrique Klaasen has also retired from international cricket in early June 2025. 33-year-old Klaasen has played 60 ODIs and 58 T20 matches in his career. He has taken this decision giving priority to his family and franchise cricket.

Australia’s explosive all-rounder Glenn Maxwell is also included in this episode. Maxwell has decided to retire from the ODI format at the age of 36. Due to his back injuries and constant workload, he has taken the big step of retiring. Maxwell has played 149 ODIs in his career in which he has scored 3990 runs. This includes 4 centuries and 23 half-centuries.

These big decisions taken in less than a month have made it clear that the format of cricket is changing rapidly. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see which young players will be able to fill the place of these veterans and emerge as the stars of the next decade.