5 batsmen who retired just short of a major landmark in Tests
The world has witnessed sportsmen reaching or eclipsing major landmarks in their respective games since time immemorial. The greatest cricketer of all, Sir Don Bradman, retired with almost all the Test match records to his name; then six decades later arrived the modern master Sachin Tendulkar, whose lengthy list of achievements and honours on the park might take decades to touch.
But in spite of all that, it was perhaps harsh that a few prominent Test batsmen missed out on landmarks despite getting agonisingly close, with retirement - either pre-planned or sudden ones - ending their glorious careers. Sportskeeda lists five such batsmen who missed out on unique milestones by a whisker.
#1 Sachin Tendulkar - 15,921 runs
Most Test matches, most ODIs; most Test runs, most ODI runs; most Test hundreds, most ODI hundreds; most Test half-centuries, most ODI half-centuries: Sachin Tendulkar had all the records. Before the short two-match Test series against West Indies in 2013, the classical right-hander had declared that the series would be his last on the international stage, having already retired from ODI cricket the previous year.
Tendulkar entered his farewell series with 15,837 runs, just 163 short of becoming the first batsman to 16,000 Test runs with a maximum of four innings to bat in. However, he was dismissed on 10 the first time that he batted, in the first Test at Kolkata; and fate would be such that Tendulkar would get the opportunity to bat only twice in both matches combined. Tendulkar fell for 74 in his final Test innings, eventually ending a glorious career with 15,921 runs, only 79 short of 16,000.