Top cricketers who made comeback from retirement

Cricketers have many times made a return on the field after calling off their retirement

Leaving something that you love doing is not an easy job. With the emotional attachment it brings to the players, it gets hard for anyone to say goodbye. Bengal’s key member of the Ranji Trophy squad, Manoj Tiwary, has made himself available once again after retirement. Earlier, Manoj Tiwary announced his retirement from Indian domestic cricket. This was the second incident this year when a player came out of retirement.

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal also came out of retirement in July, just 3–4 days after his official announcement. Many players in the Cricket world have backtracked from their earlier decisions. Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was famous for backtracking on his decisions multiple times and coming out of retirement not once but multiple times in his career. Let’s have a look at the list of top cricketers who have made a U-turn from their original retirement decisions.

1 . Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi announced his retirement from International cricket not once but three times in his international career. Afridi once announced his retirement in protest against his treatment by the team. Then he came back and played for Pakistan. After the 2015 World Cup quarterfinal loss against Australia, Afridi announced his retirement from ODIs. Once again in 2017, Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket and came out of it briefly in 2018. He finally decided to hang up his boots in 2018.

2 . Ambati Rayudu (India)

Former Indian batter Ambati Rayudu announced his retirement after missing out on the squad for the World Cup 2019. Then he again backtracked from his decision and came back to play in the Indian domestic circuit. Rayudu once again came into controversy when he announced his retirement from the Indian Premier League after CSK’s dismal performance in the IPL 2022. Rayudu backtracked soon after taking this decision and played one more season before finally retiring after winning the title in the IPL 2023.

3 . Manoj Tiwary (India)

Manoj Tiwary is among India’s most talented batters but has had only a few opportunities to represent Team India. Just a few days ago, Manoj Tiwary announced that he would say goodbye to the cricket field and announce his retirement from cricket. But a discussion with former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly made him emotional, and he came back for one more year to play for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy. Manoj played a crucial role for his state team in the previous season, where they ended as runners-up.

4 . Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh)

Former Bangladesh limited-overs captain Tamim Iqbal’s announcement came as a big shock to everyone and a little bit more shocking for Bangladeshi fans. With the Asia Cup and World Cup just around the corner, Tamim Iqbal’s retirement news was unexpected, and soon the Bangladesh Cricket Board reacted in a way to convince Tamim Iqbal to come back for the big tournaments. Tamim withdrew his retirement and came out of it, but soon he announced his resignation from the limited overs captaincy.

5 . Dwayne Bravo (West Indies)

Former West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo is part of the West Indies two-time T20 World Cup team. Bravo announced his retirement from Test Cricket in 2015, and then in 2018, he announced his retirement from International cricket and said that he would continue to take part in the T20 leagues around the world. Bravo later made a U-turn from his retirement and came back to play in the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. Later, after the tournament, he signed off.

6 . Moeen Ali (England)

Moeen Ali came out of his Test retirement to play Ashes 2023 against Australia. England all-rounder Moeen Ali after the 2021 Test series against India, announced his retirement from test cricket. Soon after England decided to switch their style of play, England captain Ben Stokes asked him to come out of retirement with a whatsapp text. Ali was first reluctant and then decided to give one last go in the Ashes 2023. Now, Ali is firm on his stand and will not be making a U-turn in his career.

7 . Kevin Pietersen (England)

England’s legendary batter, Kevin Pietersen, made a lot of noise in the cricket world with his bat and with his controversies. Pietersen was also included in this elite list as he backtracked from his ODI retirement. KP, at the age of just 32, announced that he will be leaving the white-ball format and will solely focus on red-ball cricket in 2012. Soon after a month, he made a change of mind and announced that he was still willing to play in the ODI format.

Moeen Ali, Shahid Afridi, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwari, Dwayne Bravo, Tamim Iqbal, Kevin Pietersen

For more updates, follow Khel Now Cricket on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube and join our community on Whatsapp & Telegram.