Retirement - When the Cricketing Innings of LIFE is Called OFF!

Retirement – When the Cricketing Innings of LIFE is Called OFF!: RETIREMENT – “An act of withdrawal!” Well this is the dictionary meaning of the word. But this means something drastic, in brief, for a Cricketer. The word itself makes the heart of a cricket player heavy and full of pain to tackle an inevitable change in the Cricketing aspect of the player’s life and in the life as a whole. We have witnessed tears in the eyes of even the toughest when they go through the conclusive phase of their cricketing career, termed as retirement.

Perhaps, it needs a big heart and a strong intent to get into the decision of retirement. But when things are considered with microscopic details, we can figure out that this is perhaps pretty much an important decision to make for a player. With the increments of age, the form and gradual touch of a player seems to flicker. But there have been huge number of exceptions with logical significances that prove that age is nothing but a number. Still, it is the sole duty of the player to keep in mind that he does not become a burden to the team and this is what makes his retirement decision much more important. We have seen players like Andrew Flintoff, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachin Tendulkar, Muttiah Muralitharan, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and plenty retire from the cricket even when they were passing through a good patch of form. Even it was a fact that they could have carried on with cricket for a few years, one is bound to say that they have made the righteous decisions.

Also, as a matter of fact, we have seen players who were forced to take retirement due to intensified pressures created on them by the so-called Critics and their respective Cricket Boards. Some had to retire due to their career threatening injuries. Some of those instances come in the likes of Sourav Ganguly(forced to retire as his performance was keenly scrutinized everytime  and was excluded from the squad for the slightest mistake), Kevin Pietersen (forced to retire due to some stinky politics), Ravi Shastri (forced to retire from cricket at the age of 31 due to injuries), Shane Bond (due to injuries), Damien Martyn (due to form issues). Keeping in mind of the fact that retirement is completely a personal decision of a player, fans and critics should respect the decisions and should stop bothering them about it. Considering things in a professional way, one would definitely want others to comment or interfere about his professional life’s tenure.

Retirement brings conclusion to the most important aspect of a cricketer’s life, the life as a cricketer, the life for which has put sheer dedication and worked out the hardest. Life is all about changes but only an athlete can feel the change when he/she steps aside from the ground for the final time. It feels as if the entire world goes against the person. In his 24 years of international career, we have never witnessed Sachin crying but on 13^th November, 2013, even the God of Cricket’s voice grew heavy with shades of tears coming out from the great man. Sachin said that he’d miss the chants of “Sachin, Sachinn!!” from the crowd.

The life of a cricketer is all about ups and downs. There are intense pressures at each point of time but during the span of every player’s career, he/she tends to live up with such a giantwheel alike ride and binds himself with such life. But during the conclusion, things get a bit hard and harsh too. But the love for Cricket makes some of the passionate cricketers return to the world of cricket cladded up with a different role. And many of them excel in these too. Like for instance, Ravi Shastri has become one of the most lovable cricket commentators on air. Gary Kirsten coached the Indian team to their triumphant World Cup winning march in 2011. Same goes for Darren Lehmann and Allan Border, who both have won the World Cup as a player and also as a coach. Some get to several other niches post retirement like for instance, Imran Khan has been into politics since retirement while Andrew Flintoff became a professional boxer after his retirement from Cricket.

As an individual, every player treasures the high voltage cricketing instances in the span of his career. Such phases are undoubtedly and indisputably the best phases of their lives. But since as far as the law of earth goes, everything by itself has an end, there has to be a conclusion in the career as a cricketer. Somewhere and somehow down the line, a full stop has to be inserted in every aspect of life. Cricket is no exception to it. One cannot simply afford to carry on with prolonged and stretched careers as it might lead to adverse impacts too.

To sum up, a quote from a Hollywood blockbuster fits aptly to describe the above part. “Either you die as a hero or live long to see yourself as a villain!”

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