Best XI from the players who retired in 2018

The year 2018 brought us a lot of exciting moments. Howbeit, alongside some cherishing bits, this year we also witnessed some of the cricketing greats hanging their boots once and for all. It seemed as if an era ended as we saw a lot of cricketers retiring from the early 2000s who once were the face of modern-day cricket. The list also includes a few Indian cricketers.

Gautam Gambhir, S Badrinath, Praveen Kumar, and Mohammad Kaif are some of the Indian players who considered retirement this year. Thus, having considered the retired players from 2018, we will try and churn out a competitive playing XI that can turn out to be a real deal for the other teams all over the world. Here, we bring you the best-retired XI compiled from the players who called it a day in the year 2018.

1. Gautam Gambhir (India)

The latest addition to the list is Gautam Gambhir – the man behind India’s two World Cup wins. The left-handed Delhite announced his retirement from all the forms of cricket on 3rd December. The left-handed batsman made some vital contributions to the Indian team. Be it match-winning knocks in World Cups or match-saving knocks in Tests, Gambhir was always there for India. Besides, he also ended his career as the fourth-highest run-getter among the Indian left-handed batsmen in ODIs.

And in Tests, as the second-highest run-getter among the Indian left-handers. Gambhir played his last international match against England in November 2016. It was the first Test of England’s tour of India in 2016. The left-handed batsman couldn’t make the most of it as he scored 29 and 0 in the first and the second innings respectively. Gambhir, who for long had been away from international cricket, called it quits with the Ranji Trophy match against Andhra being his last competitive game.

Moreover, Gambhir also scored a stupendous century in the first innings of his farewell game which ended in a draw yesterday. The Delhite played 58 Tests, 147 ODIs, and 37 T20Is for India. In 58 Tests, he notched-up 4154 runs at an excellent average of 41.95. Besides, he also amassed 5238 from 147 ODIs and 932 runs from 37 T20Is respectively. Thus, with exceptional records up his sleeve, Gambhir would be a definite in this playing XI as an opener.