Published: Dec 26, 2015, 04:15 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 26, 2015, 04:21 PM (IST)
The year 2015 has witnessed many legends of the game retire from cricket. While some had already retired from Tests, some called it a day after the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, like Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and Daniel Vettori. Cricket will no doubt miss these players and one wonders, if there will be anyone who will be able to fill their shoes. Many teams are still looking to cope and rebuild after these retirements from One-Day Internationals (ODI) and are still on the lookout for apt replacements. PramodAnanth lists the ODI team out of players, who have retired in the year 2015. READ: Yearender 2015: Playing XI of cricketers who retired from Tests
Openers: The openers were perhaps the easiest to pick. Virender Sehwag and Shahid Afridi were perhaps two of the most explosive batsmen in the world. Afridi, during the latter part of his career started batting lower down the order but during his initial days, he formed a lethal pair at the top with Saeed Anwar. Sehwag’s strike-rate in the shorter format is 104.33 and if you think that is excellent, Afridi strikes at 117. The duo have a total of 649 ODIs between them and have scored 16,337 runs between them. Sehwag, ODI cricket’s second double centurion averages over 35 while Afridi’s average is over 23. But together they form a lethal opening pair and fans would have loved to see these two heavyweights bat together at some point.
Middle-order: Jonathan Trott last played an ODI for England in 2013, but waited for a couple of years more to announce his retirement from all forms. It may surprise a few that he has been included in the side, but he has a phenomenal average in ODIs, which cannot be ignored. He averages over 51 but the only thing that will go against him is his strike-rate, which 77. He will be a perfect bet to walk in at No. 3 after Afridi and Sehwag to anchor the innings.
Two of Sri Lanka’s prolific run-getters in the last decade or so Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene will be the backbone of the middle-order at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively. Having being the designated wicketkeeper for Sri Lanka in 360 matches, Sangakkara will take up the responsibility of standing behind the wickets for this team as well. Both have played well over 400 ODIs and have had the experience of leading their nation as well. With close to 27,000 ODI runs and 34 centuries between them, there is no doubt that these are the best batsmen to have bowed out this year. Both retired after Sri Lanka’s quarter-final exit in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. READ: 2015 Yearender: Top 10 Test bowlers of the year
In his last ODI, Michael Clarke lifted the World Cup as Australia beat New Zealand in the final. He decided to quit in the middle of the Ashes 2015 and did not play the ODI series that followed. Misbah-ul-Haq on the other hand, like Afridi quit from the shorter format after the World Cup. With both batsmen in side, this side certainly does not lack the depth. Clarke led Australia to their fifth World Cup title and as a result will be the captain of this side.
Bowlers: Zaheer Khan and Mitchell Johnson will be the ideal bowlers to open the bowling. Johnson retired after the second Test against New Zealand recently and like Clarke, played his last ODI against New Zealand in the World Cup final. Zaheer last played an ODI in 2012 against Sri Lanka. He suffered multiple injuries during his career and could not cope with them eventually and as a result could never be picked in the limited-overs. The left-armers will be supported by the right-armer Kyle Mills, who along with being a good bowler, is very much capable of wielding the willow lower down the order. With 240 wickets to his name, Mills has often proved what it takes to get the crucial breakthroughs whenever his team needs. He has been the skipper’s go to guy whenever needed.
Mill’s national teammate for years — Daniel Vettori, will be the lone spinner for this team. With 18 years of experience in international cricket, Vettori has been New Zealand’s greatest spinners of all time with 305 wickets to his name. He played in the World Cup final earlier this year, where New Zealand finished second best to Australia. He was New Zealand’s most consistent performers in the World Cup, like he has been over the years. Like Mills, Vettori too is a useful batsman lower down the order. READ: Yearender 2015: Top 10 most thrilling ODIs
12th Man: Ireland all-rounder John Mooney, who battled depression to make a triumphant return to cricket this year, is our 12th man. Mooney does not have staggering records, but he has a good strike-rate and gets handy runs down the order for his side. He is also an effective seam bowler. He was part of the Irish squad, which had a good run in the World Cup earlier this year.
ODI retirement XI (In batting order): Virender Sehwag, Shahid Afridi, Jonathan Trott, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene, Michael Clarke (c), Misbah-ul-Haq, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Mitchell Johnson, Zaheer Khan.
12th man: John Mooney
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
