Generally, most of the cricketers want to end their ODI careers with the World Cup glory because it’s the showpiece event which is watched on a global level and the cricketers want to stretch themselves in this tournament for one last time before they hang their kits.
Over the years, there have been quite a few cricketers who played their last ODI in a World Cup. Here are 5 such cricketers:
#1 Imran Khan:
Imran Khan had already announced that World Cup 1992 would be his last international tournament and he finished that tournament becoming the first Pakistani captain who led the men in green to the World Cup glory.
At one stage, the Pakistani team was on the brink of getting eliminated from that tournament, but they turned the corner in a dramatic fashion and eventually beat England in the final to lift the trophy.
#2 Michael Clarke:
Michael Clarke’s announcement ahead of the 2015 World Cup final that he was going to retire came as a little bit of a surprise for most of his fans because he was not very old at that point of time and could have easily continued playing ODI cricket for a few more years.
However, because of his consistent back problems, Clarke decided to retire from white-ball cricket to stretch his red ball career.
#3 Glenn McGrath:
Glenn McGrath’s international career was not fading when he decided to retire in 2007. It can be understood from the fact that he was the man of the tournament for his outstanding bowling in the World Cup 2007.
However, McGrath still decided that World Cup 2007 would be his last tournament because the next generation of the Australian fast bowlers was already ready to take over the responsibility.
#4 Brad Haddin:
Brad Haddin also wanted to play only Test cricket towards the end of his career which was the reason why he opted for ODI retirement after the Kangaroos achieved glory in the World Cup 2015.
Haddin was a part of the Australian team which had lost to India in the quarter final of the World Cup 2011 and had failed to retain the World Cup trophy. However, after redemption on the home soil four years later, Haddin bid goodbye to the ODI format.
#5 S Sreesanth:
S Sreesanth was not someone who retired after his last ODI World Cup which was World Cup 2011. The speedster actually lost his place in the Indian ODI team and could never make a comeback later because of injuries and suspension.
Sreesanth was not only in the Indian squad for World Cup 2011, he was in the playing XI as well in the final match against Sri Lanka and had shared the new ball with Zaheer Khan.
