Chennai Super Kings pay tribute to retiring Albie Morkel
What's the story?
Veteran South African all-rounder Albie Morkel announced his retirement from all forms of cricket yesterday. As reactions came pouring in from the cricketing fraternity, the left-handed batsman's long-time IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings acknowledged his contributions to the team by coming up with a delightful tweet.
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In their official Twitter handle, alongside an image of Albie, CSK posted, "#Yellove Thanks! Your contributions with the last over smashes and the early wickets will All-Be Missed! #Endrum28 #WhistlePodu." [sic]
The background
In his official Twitter handle, Albie Morkel announced his decision to call it quits from all cricket. The 37-year-old thanked Cricket South Africa and his domestic team Titans for their role in helping him scale tremendous heights in the sport.
The heart of the matter
Since making his debut in South Africa's domestic circuit during the 1999/2000 season, Albie Morkel evolved himself into one of the most sought-after cricketers when T20s took the game by storm.
Although he featured in one Test, 58 ODIs and 50 T20Is for the Proteas, the all-rounder rose into prominence during his stint with Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
From the inaugural IPL season in 2008 till the 2013 edition, Albie played 78 matches for CSK and scored 827 runs at a strike-rate of 144.83. With his effective fast-medium skills, he also picked 76 wickets at an economy-rate of 8.09.
Mostly coming into bat during the death overs, Albie's hard-hitting ability helped swell the total on numerous occasions. The right-arm seamer also took the new ball and often landed early strikes for the Super Kings. He was part of the team which won the IPL title in 2010 and 2011.
In the now-defunct Champions League T20, Albie represented CSK in 14 matches and played his part in the franchise winning the tournament in 2010 on South African soil.
What's next?
Upon retiring from all forms of cricket, it remains to be seen if Albie considers a coaching stint or even a role in the commentary box. For now, he can sit back and cherish what has been a memorable career for both the Proteas as well as the Chennai Super Kings.