Best all format World XI of players who retired in the past decade
Many legendary cricketers retired in the decade (2010-2019) gone by. Some might consider this a sad thing as they dearly miss watching their favourite players. However, on the positive side, their retirement has handed out opportunities to emerging players, to be great like them. This cycle continues and the cricket world is blessed with innumerable talents gaining the limelight year after year.
Cricketers have many avenues after hanging their boots - some of which include doing commentary, taking up coaching roles, or starting their own academies. In this article, we will aim to create the best XI of International stalwarts who retired from all forms of international cricket in the past decade.
NOTE: Some of these players might still be playing in domestic leagues such as the IPL and Big Bash League. Retirement from International cricket has been taken as the criteria to create the list.
The upcoming list is an opinion of the author.
Without further ado, here they are:
#1 Hashim Amla
South Africa's Hashim Amla makes the cut in our Best XI of retired cricketers for his remarkable career. The 36-year-old from Durban was a key figure for the Proteas across all three formats.
The Indian origin opener played 124 Tests in which he amassed 9282 at an average of 46.41 and a strike rate of 49.97. He also has 28 centuries and 4 double hundreds to his name in Tests. Amla was also the first and only South African player to score a triple century.
One of the finest stroke makers in the game, Amla made a total of 8113 runs in 181 ODIs at a brilliant average of 49.47 and a noteworthy strike rate of 88.39. Apart from 39 fifties, the right-handed batsman also has 27 ODI centuries to his name.
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Runs flowed effortlessly from Amla's blade and he was highly regarded for his sublime wristwork. An astonishingly consistent player, Amla also got success in the shortest format of the game. He scored 1277 in 44 T20Is at an average of 33.61 and a strike rate of 132.06.
Earlier in January 2018, Amla had broken the Virat Kohli's record for becoming the fastest to reach 27 centuries in ODIs. The Durban-born player reached the milestone in 167 innings.
Amla announced his retirement from international cricket on 8 August 2019. He continues to play domestic T20 leagues and also features in the Qatar T10 League.
The prolific run-scorer was named in the ICC Test Team of the year four times and ICC ODI team of the year twice.
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