The ICC (International Cricket Council) has announced the inescapable postponement of the Men’s T20 World Cup, which was supposed to be scheduled for October this year in Australia. The marquee event is postponed for a year and is now rescheduled for October-November 2021.

Also, the 2021 edition of the tournament is carried forward to 2022. Along with the T20 World Cups, ICC has also put off the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup from January to October, which will be hosted by India.

The rescheduling of the T20 World Cup will surely hurt ICC largely&#8211; financially, obviously&#8211;and it will also miff some of the players who were looking to make their presence felt in the marquee event. While young cricketers will always have time for further opportunities, however, for some aged ones&#8211; rather we can say, for the experienced campaigners&#8211; this could have been their one last shot at an ICC Trophy.

Every nation is having a surplus of youth talent, and a place for some cricketers is under scrutiny. Thus, the wait of another year might just be too much to deliberate upon their retirement, considering the lack of competitive cricket.

Here we look at 5 cricketers who might announce retirement owing to the T20 World Cup getting postponed:

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-355984" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_349945.jpg" alt="Shoaib Malik" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-355984" class="wp-caption-text">Shoaib Malik. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Over 20 years ago, Shoaib Malik made his ODI debut against West Indies as a bowling all-rounder. But eventually, as his career proceeded, he turned into a batting all-rounder who has batted from the opening position to number ten!

Malik is such a versatile batter that he could open, act as a stabilizer in the middle order, and add finishing touches to the innings as well. Malik has shifted his role from an anchor to a finisher in the concluding stage of his limited-overs career.

After scoring a duck in his maiden innings, Malik went on to score 7534 ODI runs. He also picked 158 wickets with his off-breaks.  The right-hander took retirement from ODIs after an abysmal World Cup last year in <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/reports-indian-womens-team-likely-to-opt-out-of-england-tour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">England</a>. He managed only 8 runs in 3 innings, including two ducks. The 37-year-old received a deserving guard of honour by his teammates after their last World Cup game against Bangladesh. He has made himself available for T20 internationals.

Malik led Pakistan to the final of the inaugural T20 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-is-similar-to-a-world-cup-glenn-maxwell-says-he-would-love-to-participate-in-the-league-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Cup </a>in 2007, but his team failed to cross the last hurdle against arch-rivals, India. He was a key member of Pakistan&#8217;s 2009 T20 World Cup-winning team.

The veteran all-rounder has picked up 147 wickets in addition to 9892 runs in his T20 career at an average of 37 in 363 innings. He is well past his peak, and the Pakistani team is bolstered with the likes of Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, and Shadab Khan in the lower order- which might just force the 38-year-old to ponder over his retirement plans.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-357654" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_345321.jpg" alt="Imran Tahir" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357654" class="wp-caption-text">Imran Tahir. (Photo by Andy Kearns/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Imran Tahir has been the prominent spin bowler for South Africa for the last decade. He leads the spin bowling chart for the Proteas in T20 internationals with 63 wickets, averaging 15 and an economy of less than 7, along with two five-wicket hauls. In 2017, Tahir reached the top of ICC ODI and T20I bowlers ranking.

Tahir took retirement from ODI cricket after <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/it-was-men-taking-on-boys-faf-du-plessis-on-south-africas-5-1-defeat-against-india-in-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South Africa’s</a> group-stage exit from the World Cup last year. However, Tahir had a decent tournament wherein he took 11 wickets in 9 games. The leggie has been as potent in T20 cricket as he has been in one-day internationals, irrespective of how far South Africa has reached in ICC tournaments.

He scalped 12 wickets in 5 matches in the 2014 T20 World Cup held in Bangladesh, and 6 wickets in 4 games in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. The wily leg-spinner has ruled the bowling charts of the T20 leagues around the globe. However, Tahir, aged 41, has played a mere two T20Is for South Africa since 2018 and has been replaced by the chinaman bowler, Tabraiz Shamsi.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-358132" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_343848.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-358132" class="wp-caption-text">Faf du Plessis. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)</figcaption>

Francois du Plessis, commonly known as Faf, has been the crisis man for South Africa, ever since his debut. Faf made a place for himself in the team in the presence of greats like Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, and <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/i-like-his-pull-shot-jp-duminy-picks-rohit-sharma-as-his-favourite-batsman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JP Duminy</a>. With every passing series, the right-hander made a staunch position in the line-up, across formats.

Earlier in February this year, he stepped down as South Africa’s captain- in all three formats- after leading the side in some historic series victories over cricketing giants like India and Australia. The CSA director, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/its-like-riding-a-bike-graeme-smith-reckons-covid-19-break-wont-impact-cricketers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Graeme Smith</a>, had appointed wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock as the skipper for limited-overs cricket.

As far as T20Is are concerned, Faf has played an anchoring role while providing others around him the freedom to play risky shots. The former Protea skipper has scored 1407 runs at an average of 34 and a strike rate of 134- highlighting the importance of du Plessis in the middle order as an inning holding character. Prolific talents like Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, and Rassie van der Dussen will keep the 36-year-old on his toes.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-375578" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Chris-Gayle-1.jpg" alt="Chris Gayle" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-375578" class="wp-caption-text">Chris Gayle. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)</figcaption>

The “Universe Boss” is the most decorated T20 player in the world. Even at the age of 40, Chris Gayle can smack any bowling attack for towering sixes. Gayle’s six-hitting prowess is well known, and he is one of the most sought after batsman in T20 leagues around the globe.

Although the left-hander has faced criticisms for his devil-may-care attitude off the field and has also been part of several controversies outside the ground, but a match-winner with over 13000 T20 runs can be cut some slack as he makes up for everything with his monstrous striking.

The instigator of Gaylestorm holds several T20 batting records; 13296 runs, at an average of 38 and strike rate close to 150, to go with record 22 T20 hundreds. The southpaw has bludgeoned 978 sixes and holds the record for the highest score in professional T20 cricket; 175* against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013.

Then again, the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/west-indies-vs-india-rohit-sharma-lights-up-the-day-of-two-of-his-jamaican-fans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jamaican </a>hasn’t made himself available for the West Indies, apart from ICC events and the matches leading to it. He last appeared for West Indies in a T20I in March 2019. Since 2017, the opener has only played 8 T20Is for the men in maroon. Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons have shown good form in recent times and the emergence of Brandon King will compel Gayle to make a decision- whether to have a future in international anymore.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-349884" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_364799.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-349884" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)</figcaption>

July 10th, 2019- it has been over a year since that apocalyptic day in Manchester for India. Not only it was another World Cup knockout loss for the Indian cricket team, but also it was the last time MS Dhoni was seen batting in the national &#8216;blue&#8217; jersey.

He has since been on an indefinite break from international cricket. Meanwhile, fans speculated his retirement news a couple of times on social media&#8211; trending #ThankyouDhoni and #DhoniRetires&#8211; only for his wife, Sakshi, to ruffle all the talks conspicuously on Twitter.

The wicket-keeper batsman last played a T20I in February 2019 in a home series against Australia. “Thala” has had two magnificent IPL seasons in 2018 and 2019, but his numbers in international Twenty20 doesn’t justify the tag of a finisher, anymore.

Dhoni played with a strike rate of 116 in 2019 and has batted with a strike rate of 140 in the last five years in T20Is. KL Rahul&#8211; Man of the Series in the T20Is against <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/new-zealand-coach-gary-stead-dismisses-rumours-of-removing-kane-williamson-as-captain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand</a>&#8212; has now been given the regular wicket-keeping duties, and there is Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson also waiting in the queue for a spot in the national team.

We expect the messages would have been conveyed distinctly to the youngsters about their chances and opportunities in the team, even with Dhoni not retired. While words may not be enough to do a justification on the accolades Dhoni has achieved as a player and a captain, but at some point, sadly, he has to bid adieu, at least from T20 internationals, sooner rather than, well, later.

The ICC (International Cricket Council) has announced the inescapable postponement of the Men’s T20 World Cup, which was supposed to be scheduled for October this year in Australia. The marquee event is postponed for a year and is now rescheduled for October-November 2021.
Also, the 2021 edition of the tournament is carried forward to 2022. Along with the T20 World Cups, ICC has also put off the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup from January to October, which will be hosted by India.
The rescheduling of the T20 World Cup will surely hurt ICC largely– financially, obviously–and it will also miff some of the players who were looking to make their presence felt in the marquee event. While young cricketers will always have time for further opportunities, however, for some aged ones– rather we can say, for the experienced campaigners– this could have been their one last shot at an ICC Trophy.
Every nation is having a surplus of youth talent, and a place for some cricketers is under scrutiny. Thus, the wait of another year might just be too much to deliberate upon their retirement, considering the lack of competitive cricket.
Here we look at 5 cricketers who might announce retirement owing to the T20 World Cup getting postponed:
<h3>1. Shoaib Malik</h3>
<figure id="attachment_355984" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-355984" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-355984" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_349945.jpg" alt="Shoaib Malik" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-355984" class="wp-caption-text">Shoaib Malik. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Over 20 years ago, Shoaib Malik made his ODI debut against West Indies as a bowling all-rounder. But eventually, as his career proceeded, he turned into a batting all-rounder who has batted from the opening position to number ten!
Malik is such a versatile batter that he could open, act as a stabilizer in the middle order, and add finishing touches to the innings as well. Malik has shifted his role from an anchor to a finisher in the concluding stage of his limited-overs career.
After scoring a duck in his maiden innings, Malik went on to score 7534 ODI runs. He also picked 158 wickets with his off-breaks. &nbsp;The right-hander took retirement from ODIs after an abysmal World Cup last year in <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/reports-indian-womens-team-likely-to-opt-out-of-england-tour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">England</a>. He managed only 8 runs in 3 innings, including two ducks. The 37-year-old received a deserving guard of honour by his teammates after their last World Cup game against Bangladesh. He has made himself available for T20 internationals.
Malik led Pakistan to the final of the inaugural T20 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-is-similar-to-a-world-cup-glenn-maxwell-says-he-would-love-to-participate-in-the-league-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Cup </a>in 2007, but his team failed to cross the last hurdle against arch-rivals, India. He was a key member of Pakistan’s 2009 T20 World Cup-winning team.
The veteran all-rounder has picked up 147 wickets in addition to 9892 runs in his T20 career at an average of 37 in 363 innings. He is well past his peak, and the Pakistani team is bolstered with the likes of Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, and Shadab Khan in the lower order- which might just force the 38-year-old to ponder over his retirement plans.

<h3>2. Imran Tahir</h3>
<figure id="attachment_357654" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357654" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-357654" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_345321.jpg" alt="Imran Tahir" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357654" class="wp-caption-text">Imran Tahir. (Photo by Andy Kearns/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Imran Tahir has been the prominent spin bowler for South Africa for the last decade. He leads the spin bowling chart for the Proteas in T20 internationals with 63 wickets, averaging 15 and an economy of less than 7, along with two five-wicket hauls. In 2017, Tahir reached the top of ICC ODI and T20I bowlers ranking.
Tahir took retirement from ODI cricket after <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/it-was-men-taking-on-boys-faf-du-plessis-on-south-africas-5-1-defeat-against-india-in-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South Africa’s</a> group-stage exit from the World Cup last year. However, Tahir had a decent tournament wherein he took 11 wickets in 9 games. The leggie has been as potent in T20 cricket as he has been in one-day internationals, irrespective of how far South Africa has reached in ICC tournaments.
He scalped 12 wickets in 5 matches in the 2014 T20 World Cup held in Bangladesh, and 6 wickets in 4 games in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. The wily leg-spinner has ruled the bowling charts of the T20 leagues around the globe. However, Tahir, aged 41, has played a mere two T20Is for South Africa since 2018 and has been replaced by the chinaman bowler, Tabraiz Shamsi.

<h3>3. Faf du Plessis</h3>
<figure id="attachment_358132" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-358132" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-358132" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_343848.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-358132" class="wp-caption-text">Faf du Plessis. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Francois du Plessis, commonly known as Faf, has been the crisis man for South Africa, ever since his debut. Faf made a place for himself in the team in the presence of greats like Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, and <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/i-like-his-pull-shot-jp-duminy-picks-rohit-sharma-as-his-favourite-batsman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JP Duminy</a>. With every passing series, the right-hander made a staunch position in the line-up, across formats.
Earlier in February this year, he stepped down as South Africa’s captain- in all three formats- after leading the side in some historic series victories over cricketing giants like India and Australia. The CSA director, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/its-like-riding-a-bike-graeme-smith-reckons-covid-19-break-wont-impact-cricketers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Graeme Smith</a>, had appointed wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock as the skipper for limited-overs cricket.
As far as T20Is are concerned, Faf has played an anchoring role while providing others around him the freedom to play risky shots. The former Protea skipper has scored 1407 runs at an average of 34 and a strike rate of 134- highlighting the importance of du Plessis in the middle order as an inning holding character. Prolific talents like Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, and Rassie van der Dussen will keep the 36-year-old on his toes.

<h3>4. Chris Gayle</h3>
<figure id="attachment_375578" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-375578" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-375578" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Chris-Gayle-1.jpg" alt="Chris Gayle" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-375578" class="wp-caption-text">Chris Gayle. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
The “Universe Boss” is the most decorated T20 player in the world. Even at the age of 40, Chris Gayle can smack any bowling attack for towering sixes. Gayle’s six-hitting prowess is well known, and he is one of the most sought after batsman in T20 leagues around the globe.
Although the left-hander has faced criticisms for his devil-may-care attitude off the field and has also been part of several controversies outside the ground, but a match-winner with over 13000 T20 runs can be cut some slack as he makes up for everything with his monstrous striking.
The instigator of Gaylestorm holds several T20 batting records; 13296 runs, at an average of 38 and strike rate close to 150, to go with record 22 T20 hundreds. The southpaw has bludgeoned 978 sixes and holds the record for the highest score in professional T20 cricket; 175* against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013.
Then again, the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/west-indies-vs-india-rohit-sharma-lights-up-the-day-of-two-of-his-jamaican-fans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jamaican </a>hasn’t made himself available for the West Indies, apart from ICC events and the matches leading to it. He last appeared for West Indies in a T20I in March 2019. Since 2017, the opener has only played 8 T20Is for the men in maroon. Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons have shown good form in recent times and the emergence of Brandon King will compel Gayle to make a decision- whether to have a future in international anymore.

<h3>5. MS Dhoni</h3>
<figure id="attachment_349884" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-349884" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-349884" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_364799.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-349884" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
July 10th, 2019- it has been over a year since that apocalyptic day in Manchester for India. Not only it was another World Cup knockout loss for the Indian cricket team, but also it was the last time MS Dhoni was seen batting in the national ‘blue’ jersey.
He has since been on an indefinite break from international cricket. Meanwhile, fans speculated his retirement news a couple of times on social media– trending #ThankyouDhoni and #DhoniRetires– only for his wife, Sakshi, to ruffle all the talks conspicuously on Twitter.
The wicket-keeper batsman last played a T20I in February 2019 in a home series against Australia. “Thala” has had two magnificent IPL seasons in 2018 and 2019, but his numbers in international Twenty20 doesn’t justify the tag of a finisher, anymore.
Dhoni played with a strike rate of 116 in 2019 and has batted with a strike rate of 140 in the last five years in T20Is. KL Rahul– Man of the Series in the T20Is against <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/new-zealand-coach-gary-stead-dismisses-rumours-of-removing-kane-williamson-as-captain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand</a>— has now been given the regular wicket-keeping duties, and there is Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson also waiting in the queue for a spot in the national team.
We expect the messages would have been conveyed distinctly to the youngsters about their chances and opportunities in the team, even with Dhoni not retired. While words may not be enough to do a justification on the accolades Dhoni has achieved as a player and a captain, but at some point, sadly, he has to bid adieu, at least from T20 internationals, sooner rather than, well, later.

The ICC (International Cricket Council) has announced the inescapable postponement of the Men’s T20 World Cup, which was supposed to be scheduled for October this year in Australia. The marquee event is postponed for a year and is now rescheduled for October-November 2021.
Also, the 2021 edition of the tournament is carried forward to 2022. Along with the T20 World Cups, ICC has also put off the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup from January to October, which will be hosted by India.
The rescheduling of the T20 World Cup will surely hurt ICC largely&#8211; financially, obviously&#8211;and it will also miff some of the players who were looking to make their presence felt in the marquee event. While young cricketers will always have time for further opportunities, however, for some aged ones&#8211; rather we can say, for the experienced campaigners&#8211; this could have been their one last shot at an ICC Trophy.
Every nation is having a surplus of youth talent, and a place for some cricketers is under scrutiny. Thus, the wait of another year might just be too much to deliberate upon their retirement, considering the lack of competitive cricket.
Here we look at 5 cricketers who might announce retirement owing to the T20 World Cup getting postponed:
<h3>1. Shoaib Malik</h3>
<figure id="attachment_355984" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-355984" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-355984" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_349945.jpg" alt="Shoaib Malik" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-355984" class="wp-caption-text">Shoaib Malik. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Over 20 years ago, Shoaib Malik made his ODI debut against West Indies as a bowling all-rounder. But eventually, as his career proceeded, he turned into a batting all-rounder who has batted from the opening position to number ten!
Malik is such a versatile batter that he could open, act as a stabilizer in the middle order, and add finishing touches to the innings as well. Malik has shifted his role from an anchor to a finisher in the concluding stage of his limited-overs career.
After scoring a duck in his maiden innings, Malik went on to score 7534 ODI runs. He also picked 158 wickets with his off-breaks.  The right-hander took retirement from ODIs after an abysmal World Cup last year in <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/reports-indian-womens-team-likely-to-opt-out-of-england-tour/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">England</a>. He managed only 8 runs in 3 innings, including two ducks. The 37-year-old received a deserving guard of honour by his teammates after their last World Cup game against Bangladesh. He has made himself available for T20 internationals.
Malik led Pakistan to the final of the inaugural T20 <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/ipl-is-similar-to-a-world-cup-glenn-maxwell-says-he-would-love-to-participate-in-the-league-this-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">World Cup </a>in 2007, but his team failed to cross the last hurdle against arch-rivals, India. He was a key member of Pakistan&#8217;s 2009 T20 World Cup-winning team.
The veteran all-rounder has picked up 147 wickets in addition to 9892 runs in his T20 career at an average of 37 in 363 innings. He is well past his peak, and the Pakistani team is bolstered with the likes of Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, and Shadab Khan in the lower order- which might just force the 38-year-old to ponder over his retirement plans.

<h3>2. Imran Tahir</h3>
<figure id="attachment_357654" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-357654" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-357654" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_345321.jpg" alt="Imran Tahir" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-357654" class="wp-caption-text">Imran Tahir. (Photo by Andy Kearns/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Imran Tahir has been the prominent spin bowler for South Africa for the last decade. He leads the spin bowling chart for the Proteas in T20 internationals with 63 wickets, averaging 15 and an economy of less than 7, along with two five-wicket hauls. In 2017, Tahir reached the top of ICC ODI and T20I bowlers ranking.
Tahir took retirement from ODI cricket after <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/it-was-men-taking-on-boys-faf-du-plessis-on-south-africas-5-1-defeat-against-india-in-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South Africa’s</a> group-stage exit from the World Cup last year. However, Tahir had a decent tournament wherein he took 11 wickets in 9 games. The leggie has been as potent in T20 cricket as he has been in one-day internationals, irrespective of how far South Africa has reached in ICC tournaments.
He scalped 12 wickets in 5 matches in the 2014 T20 World Cup held in Bangladesh, and 6 wickets in 4 games in the 2016 T20 World Cup in India. The wily leg-spinner has ruled the bowling charts of the T20 leagues around the globe. However, Tahir, aged 41, has played a mere two T20Is for South Africa since 2018 and has been replaced by the chinaman bowler, Tabraiz Shamsi.

<h3>3. Faf du Plessis</h3>
<figure id="attachment_358132" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-358132" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-358132" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_343848.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-358132" class="wp-caption-text">Faf du Plessis. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
Francois du Plessis, commonly known as Faf, has been the crisis man for South Africa, ever since his debut. Faf made a place for himself in the team in the presence of greats like Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, and <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/i-like-his-pull-shot-jp-duminy-picks-rohit-sharma-as-his-favourite-batsman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JP Duminy</a>. With every passing series, the right-hander made a staunch position in the line-up, across formats.
Earlier in February this year, he stepped down as South Africa’s captain- in all three formats- after leading the side in some historic series victories over cricketing giants like India and Australia. The CSA director, <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/its-like-riding-a-bike-graeme-smith-reckons-covid-19-break-wont-impact-cricketers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Graeme Smith</a>, had appointed wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock as the skipper for limited-overs cricket.
As far as T20Is are concerned, Faf has played an anchoring role while providing others around him the freedom to play risky shots. The former Protea skipper has scored 1407 runs at an average of 34 and a strike rate of 134- highlighting the importance of du Plessis in the middle order as an inning holding character. Prolific talents like Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, and Rassie van der Dussen will keep the 36-year-old on his toes.

<h3>4. Chris Gayle</h3>
<figure id="attachment_375578" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-375578" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-375578" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/Chris-Gayle-1.jpg" alt="Chris Gayle" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-375578" class="wp-caption-text">Chris Gayle. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
The “Universe Boss” is the most decorated T20 player in the world. Even at the age of 40, Chris Gayle can smack any bowling attack for towering sixes. Gayle’s six-hitting prowess is well known, and he is one of the most sought after batsman in T20 leagues around the globe.
Although the left-hander has faced criticisms for his devil-may-care attitude off the field and has also been part of several controversies outside the ground, but a match-winner with over 13000 T20 runs can be cut some slack as he makes up for everything with his monstrous striking.
The instigator of Gaylestorm holds several T20 batting records; 13296 runs, at an average of 38 and strike rate close to 150, to go with record 22 T20 hundreds. The southpaw has bludgeoned 978 sixes and holds the record for the highest score in professional T20 cricket; 175* against Pune Warriors in IPL 2013.
Then again, the <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/west-indies-vs-india-rohit-sharma-lights-up-the-day-of-two-of-his-jamaican-fans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jamaican </a>hasn’t made himself available for the West Indies, apart from ICC events and the matches leading to it. He last appeared for West Indies in a T20I in March 2019. Since 2017, the opener has only played 8 T20Is for the men in maroon. Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons have shown good form in recent times and the emergence of Brandon King will compel Gayle to make a decision- whether to have a future in international anymore.

<h3>5. MS Dhoni</h3>
<figure id="attachment_349884" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-349884" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-349884" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/CT_364799.jpg" alt width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-349884" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
July 10th, 2019- it has been over a year since that apocalyptic day in Manchester for India. Not only it was another World Cup knockout loss for the Indian cricket team, but also it was the last time MS Dhoni was seen batting in the national &#8216;blue&#8217; jersey.
He has since been on an indefinite break from international cricket. Meanwhile, fans speculated his retirement news a couple of times on social media&#8211; trending #ThankyouDhoni and #DhoniRetires&#8211; only for his wife, Sakshi, to ruffle all the talks conspicuously on Twitter.
The wicket-keeper batsman last played a T20I in February 2019 in a home series against Australia. “Thala” has had two magnificent IPL seasons in 2018 and 2019, but his numbers in international Twenty20 doesn’t justify the tag of a finisher, anymore.
Dhoni played with a strike rate of 116 in 2019 and has batted with a strike rate of 140 in the last five years in T20Is. KL Rahul&#8211; Man of the Series in the T20Is against <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/new-zealand-coach-gary-stead-dismisses-rumours-of-removing-kane-williamson-as-captain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand</a>&#8212; has now been given the regular wicket-keeping duties, and there is Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson also waiting in the queue for a spot in the national team.
We expect the messages would have been conveyed distinctly to the youngsters about their chances and opportunities in the team, even with Dhoni not retired. While words may not be enough to do a justification on the accolades Dhoni has achieved as a player and a captain, but at some point, sadly, he has to bid adieu, at least from T20 internationals, sooner rather than, well, later.

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