10 Bowlers who got injured at their peak

10 Bowlers who got injured at their peak: Bowling is certainly not the best part of the gentleman’s game. It has always been a tiring task and the bowlers have always needed to put in a little extra effort to keep their fitness going. But there have been a few unfortunate bowlers who have missed out due to injuries. The worse has happened to a few who have had injuries when they were at the prime of their career. Here is a list of 10 Bowlers who got injured at their peak: 1. Andrew Flintoff Andrew Flintoff. (© Getty Images) The former English All-rounder, Andrew Flintoff, is popularly remembered for his heroics in the 2005 Ashes. Flintoff scored a century during England’s crucial win at Trent Bridge. Flintoff was troubled by ankle and knee injury time and again. He made his debut in 1998 and started facing fitness concerns in 2001 during India tour. He had a great Ashes series in 2005 and followed up with good performances at the 2007 World Cup. Against Ireland he took 4–43 and scored 43 runs; against Sri Lanka he took 3–35; but then faced an ankle injury after the World Cup. Flintoff returned for a couple of games with Lancashire, but he re-injured his ankle and was ruled out from the West Indies tour of England which was supposed to take place a month after the World Cup. He came back in the 7 match ODI Series against India in August 2007 but injured his knee in the 3rd ODI. Flintoff’s ankle injury recurred during the end of the 2007 season. Flintoff was back in action for Lancashire early in the 2008 season, but a side strain ruled him out of contention for the home series against New Zealand. On 15 July 2009, Flintoff announced he would retire from Test cricket at the end of the 2009 Ashes Series following a series of injuries as he described himself ‘being plagued’ with injuries since 2005. Also Read – Top 10 Most Deadly Injuries In Cricket 2. Shoaib Akhtar: Shoaib Akhtar. (© Getty Images) The Pakistani paceman was probably bowling his fastest when a series of injuries forced him to sit on the sidelines. After a poor World Cup 2003 and a home series against India in 2004, Akhtar started facing back problems and wrist injuries. He made a comeback in 2005 and regained his reputation as a fast bowler in the home series against England and emerged as the highest wicket taker in the series with 17 wickets. He then faced a 13 match ban due to drug scandal and returned back in 2007 against South Africa with 4-43. He had an impressive season in 2010 in England but being a 35 year old, his fitness was asking questions to him. He kick started the New Zealand tour the same year with 3 wicket haul and impressed all in the absence of key bowlers like Amir and Asif who were banned. It was during the World Cup 2011, that the veteran fast bowler decided to call it a day following series of fitness concerns. He retired after the World Cup. 3. Mohammad Shami: Mohammed Shami. (© Getty Images) India’s new found pace bowler impressed the cricket fraternity with his pace and the ability to reverse swing the ball. He made his debut in 2013 and by March 2014, he became the third fastest Indian to 50 ODI wickets. He continued his good form against England and took 8 wickets in the series which India won 3-1 and then picked 10 wickets at 17.40 against West Indies in October 2014. Owing to these performances, he was included in the World Cup 2015 squad. The young fast bowler did not disappoint and played a key role in India’s run till the semi-finals with 17 wickets at 17.29 and an economy rate of 4.81. He was clearly at the peak of his career which had just started and after the conclusion of the World Cup, Shami revealed that he bowled through pain in his left knee which kept recurring, following which he underwent a surgery. He has not made his comeback yet and is most likely to stage a comeback before 2016 T20 World Cup. 4. Shane Bond: Shane Bond. (Photo Source: Getty Images ) Shane Bond was one of the fastest bowlers of his era and a clean swing bowler too. He ripped apart the Aussie lineup in 2003 World Cup with 6-23. Despite being so immensely talented, he missed out on more opportunities due to recurring injuries. He could only play 18 Test matches but bagged 87 wickets. He suffered a stress fracture in his back after the World Cup 2003 and returned in 2005 to clean up India in an ODI at Bulawayo with 6-19. But his defection to the now-defunct ICL and recurring injuries forced him out of international action for over 3 years. In September 2009 he wore New Zealand colours once more, during a Twenty20 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He got back in Test squad and came up with a final match-winning performance in the Dunedin Test against Pakistan. An abdominal tear ruled him out midway through the series before he decided to quit Tests. 5. Ryan Harris: Ryan Harris. (Photo Source: Getty Images) The Australian fast bowler, Ryan Harris, took 113 wickets in the 27 Tests that he played. A highly skilled pace bowler, Harris, was called up into the Australian squad for the 3rd ODI against Pakistan in 2010. He emerged with the figures of 5-43 to earn the Man of the Match. Harris claimed 5-19 in the next match, a second consecutive five wicket haul and earned the Man of the Series too. During 2011, Harris toured Sri Lanka and South Africa with the team and suffered a hip injury. Recurring injuries often kept him out of the limited overs cricket. In 2013 Ashes, he picked a five-for at Lords. The same year, he became one of only four test bowlers, who made their test debut after the age of 30, to take 100 test wickets. In 2014, he suffered a knee injury which made him sit on the sidelines for over 6 months. He made a comeback and played the series when India toured Australia in early 2015 but suffered from side strains then. He announced his retirement from cricket in July 2015, three days before the start of the Ashes. 6. Shaun Tait: Shaun Tait. (Photo Source: AFP) The fiery Australian pacer had a curtailed career largely due to injuries. His side arm action often resulted in a lot of elbow strain. He featured in 35 ODIs and picked up 73 wickets before retiring in 2011. Tait assumed the role of the spearhead in the absence of Brett Lee in the 2007 World Cup and finished the tournament as second leading wicket-taker with 23 wickets. He had an elbow surgery after the World Cup in June and Tait missed the Australian cricket team’s tour of India in October 2007 due to a complicated recovery after the surgery. He returned in early 2008 in the Chappell-Hadlee Series and bagged 5 wickets at an average of 17.80. He picked up 11 wickets in the 2011 World Cup and then called it a day for his ODI career as Australia crashed out of the tournament after the Semi-final match. The tournament ouster along with his fitness concerns were a reason for his retirement. 7. Lasith Malinga: Lasith Malinga. (© Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images) Malinga, the Sri Lankan fast bowler, made his debut in 2004 and made a mark first up with a 6 wicket match haul. He played 30 Test matches and took 101 wickets before retiring from the oldest format of the game. Fitness concerns were always there due to his slinging action. A knee injury he picked up during Sri Lanka’s Australia tour in 2007 threatened to cut short his career and in April, 2011, he retired from Tests in order to spare his knee further damage. His good form in the limited overs continued. In August 2011, he took a hat-trick, against Australia, to become the first man to take three hat-tricks in ODI cricket. In 2013, he suffered back spasms and a knee injury during the 2013 IPL which ruled him out of action for the remainder of the tournament. Lasith Malinga underwent surgery on his left ankle in September and missed the team’s one-day series against India and England in 2014. He made his comeback against New Zealand in early 2015 and had a reasonable outing in World Cup 2015. He continues to represent Sri Lanka in ODIs and T20s. 8. Nathan Bracken: Nathan Bracken. (Photo Source: SportsBet) Nathan Bracken, who was ranked the world’s No.1 ODI bowler in 2008, has finally bowed to his aching body and retired from all forms of the game in the year 2011. He suffered from a chronic knee injury that has limited his appearances for New South Wales. Bracken, a left-arm bowler, played five Tests but was best known as a limited-overs specialist with 174 ODI wickets and played largely under the shadows of other bowlers. The recurring injuries to his knee kept him out of action since 2009 after having played 116 matches for Australia. Bracken played his last ODI on September 17 2009 after succumbing to a knee injury and being ruled out of the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy. He could never make a comeback after that and decide to retire in 2011. He had another knee surgery after that just to stabilize the troubling joint. 9. Irfan Pathan: Irfan Pathan. (Photo Source: Associated Press) Irfan Pathan was perhaps the most promising young all-rounder when he had entered the international arena. After a promising start and a batting promotion in his career, he was soon to be seen demoted in the batting order and left out of the squad. He returned in the World T20 and came up with a match winning spell in the finals against Pakistan in 2007. He had a sporadic career since then and made occasional appearances due to frequent injuries. Irfan Pathan was recalled for India’s ODI squad for West Indies series in 2011 and picked a wicket on the first ball that he bowled. His strong performances following the series and the Commonwealth Bank Series led to his inclusion in the Asia Cup squad. In 2012, he toured Sri Lanka with the team and emerged as the top wicket taker with a 5-wicket haul. In the Ranji Trophy 2012–13 against Karnataka, Pathan raised his First-class highest score of 121 but, he injured his knee during match. Since then he could not make a comeback to the national side and has been on the fringes of making a comeback. 10. Mitchell Starc: Mitchell Starc. (© Cricket Australia/Getty Images) The current bowling sensation, Mitchell Starc, who recently bowled the fastest delivery in Test cricket, is the latest victim to injury. Starc injured his leg during the first-ever day-night Test match in the history of Test cricket at the Adelaide Oval against New Zealand in the first innings. Mitchell Starc is going to be out for a lengthy period due to a stress fracture in his right foot. This is not the first time that the promising youngster has been out due to injury. Earlier this year, after the World Cup, Starc missed the initial part of the IPL due to a sore ankle. Scans confirmed Starc has an early stage fracture in his right foot. The injury means his Test summer is almost certainly over and he might well opt for a surgery and will be out for actions for around a couple of months. Also Read – Top 10 fastest deliveries ever bowled in international cricket

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10 Bowlers who got injured at their peak

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