In cricket or any other sport, saying goodbye is tough

“I play the game with full passion and intensity and till the time I feel my body is fit, I’ll carry on. It is not easy to make decisions related to retirement. It means saying goodbye to the game which has been part of your daily life for a long time” quoted by India’s beloved cricketer Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar when interviewed just after India registered a famous win over Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Surely, it is not easy for any sports person to make the decision of retiring. Several pros and cons are related while making such decisions.

This article takes into account the careers of various players from different sports who took a long time to retire. Some retired with respect when their respective careers were on a high, some waited to bail out their teams out of the transitional phase, while few others retired after completing or chasing their records, thereby setting huge standards for others and making a huge impact on the game they played.

Kapil Dev

One of the greatest all rounders to have played the game, retired after chasing his dream of beating Dennis Lille’s tally of wickets. Though his dream took a lot of time, but eventually he succeeded. He retired when he was in his ‘glory days’. Obviously, the decision of retiring for every player is different, but this former World Cup winning captain retired after chasing his dreams and set high standards for others.

Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble

Both these Karnataka born players had similar careers. They served the Indian cricket team for a long time. Dravid was often regarded as India’s ‘crisis man’ or ‘The Wall’ while Kumble was one of the best spinners for India. They retired at the right time. Anil Kumble became the captain of Team India in Test matches and helped th Indian team climb up in the Test rankings. His timing was so right that after his retirement Team India became the No.1 team in world cricket. This proves that his experience and mentorship proved worthwhile for the team.

On the other hand, Rahul Dravid retired when he was in peak form. In the India-England series of 2011, when all the established players failed to score runs in tough English conditions, this man scored three back to back centuries to bail out the team from a crisis and salvage a draw for his team. Though his lone efforts went in vain, but nonetheless he gained more respect from his teammates and spectators.

His sudden retirement also came as a surprise to the entire cricketing world, but he did this only for his young team so that the youngsters could get ample time to build their respective careers. Both these players wanted to take their teams to glory and even in the last phase of their careers, they did everything possible before taking the hardest decision to retire from the game.

Andre Agassi and Sourav Ganguly

Though being from different fields, these players had quite a few things in common in their sporting careers. Both these players faced lots of ups and downs in their careers. Andre Aggasi rose to fame early in his career with quite a few Grand Slams to his name, but later on lost his touch, and with the rapidly changing competitive environment, he was sidelined. However, he fought his way back and came back close to winning the US Open in 2009, after which he announced his retirement.

Sourav Ganguly, on the other hand, has been one of the most prolific players and successful Indian captains who served Indian cricket for a long time. He was always in the news for his good and aggressive captaincy or blistering innings guiding his team to victory. But when former Australian captain Greg Chappell became the coach of Team India, the scenario changed rapidly. His differences with Chappell led to a downfall in his batting and was eventually thrown out of his team for lack of form, poor attitude and reluctance to accept change.

Interestingly the ‘Bengal Tiger’ didn’t give up his cricketing career and continued playing domestic cricket, and came back to play for Team India for one last time. He was in sublime touch in his last phase and retired on a high, thus making a strong point.

This article shows us that different players have different mindsets and love for their respective games. One plays for achieving higher standards, another plays to prove a point and a third plays till he/she can provide stability and strength to the team. It has been observed that foreign players prefer to retire at an early age when they are in good form, whereas Asians tend to stretch their careers a bit. Sachin Tendulkar left ODI cricket when he saw there was no point in playing every format of the game, though Roger Federer is still to retire from the game.

Players play for personal glory, their respective teams, for spectators and for their country, but it is only those who accept change – something that is constant – that do not find it tough to say goodbye to their game.