India is a cricketing behemoth today. It was not always the case. It started out as a rather ordinary team but over time, the quality and skill of the cricketers coming from India kept improving. Cricketers such as Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar gave the country hope of excellence in this sport. They were followed by a continuous stream of such gifted cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble among others. In the last 10-15 years, the quality of Indian cricket has become so exceptional that today we can easily be considered as one of the best teams in the world.
In order to build a good team, it is pertinent to have a spirit of sportsmanship and respect. If the incoming youngsters do not learn to respect and look up to the senior veteran cricketers already in the team, then the team culture is bound to struggle.
The onus of this lies with the cricket board, i.e. the BCCI. When a cricketing legend retires, the board shall ensure that a dignified farewell game is arranged for that individual to part ways with honor. They did a splendid job in 2013 with Sachin Tendulkar’s final game.
However, the BCCI has not been consistent with giving all legendary cricketers a final goodbye game. We look at 5 Indian cricketers who deserved a farewell match before retirement.
1. VVS Laxman
The batting mainstay of India who rattled the Aussies with his impeccable batting prowess had to bid adieu without a final game. He was on the tour to Australia in 2011-12 where India where everyone in the Indian line-up had a disastrous tour. Laxman played his last test on this series and was dropped due to poor performance. He announced his retirement without a farewell game. The BCCI could have included him in the squad for the New Zealand test series in August 2012 where the first test was played in Hyderabad, his home ground.
2. Virender Sehwag
India’s dynamic opener who gave them blistering starts played his last test against Australia in 2013. He was dropped after the second test in Hyderabad owning to poor form and never got another chance in the team. the BCCI should have at least arranged a T20I game in Delhi as his final farewell game. For a man who has contributed more than 8500 runs in tests and 8000 runs in ODIs, this was the least we could do as a nation to express our gratitude.
3. Sunil Gavaskar
Gavaskar retired in 1987 but he did not get the opportunity to announce his retirement and play a final game. He played his final game in the 1987 ODI world cup against England but unfortunately, did not get selected in the team after that. He announced his retirement soon after but it did not end on a good note. He was the first man to score 10000 runs in test cricket and played more than 100 tests for the country. His contribution to Indian cricket has been immense and unmeasurable.
4. MS Dhoni
For Dhoni, he had announced his retirement from tests before playing his last test. However, he continued to play limited-overs cricket for the country. His form wavered near 2020 and calls were being made to drop Dhoni. However, for a man who had given an ODI world cup, T20 world cup, Champions Trophy and no. 1 test ranking, the BCCI wanted Dhoni to retire on his own terms. The stage was set for Dhoni to retire after the 2020 ICC T20 world cup. Unfortunately, the Covid pandemic struck and he cricket was suspended for many months with the world getting rescheduled to 2021. Dhoni announced his retirement in 2021 without getting a farewell game.5.
5. Zaheer Khan
Before India became a pace bowling mean machine, the team was known for its spinners. In the 2000s, Zaheer Khan was one of India’s best swing bowlers and he had 300 test wickets to his name. He helped India lift the world cup in 2011 and was India’s highest wicket-taker. He played his final test in New Zealand in 2015 and was dropped post that. He retired subsequently without getting a final game as his farewell.
