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Top 10 Cricketers Who Made Comeback After Retirement 

image-lldrd0oqBen Stokes (Source: Twitter)

"I need to retire from retirement". Many cricketers over the years have given a perspective to this quote.

No sportsman plays for infinity. No matter what, they have to pass through a retirement phase and put a full stop to their sporting journey as a player. Same goes with cricketers. Though their retiral age is mostly late 30s and early 40s, it is not a requisite.

While retirement is inevitable, it surely can be spasmodically fallacious. We have seen numerous cricketers make a U-ey on their retirements. Although the list may go on and on, let us have a look at the top 10 cricketers who came out of retirement.


10. Javagal Srinath

Left disappointed by the lack of opportunities in the 2001-02 West Indies tour, Javagal Srinath announced his retirement from Test cricket in haste in June 2002. However, a phone call from the then captain of India Sourav Ganguly led the pacer to reverse his decision. He went on to play three more Tests for India from there on.


9. Imran Khan

Inarguably the greatest and most influential skipper in the Pakistan cricket history, Imran Khan brought curtains to his international career following a defeat in the World Cup 1987 semi-final versus Australia. As he was the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, he took back his retirement on the request of President Zia-ul-Haq and led Pakistan to their first world title in 1992.


8. Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen was the first-mover within the England camp towards the franchise leagues. As heat prospered in the conflict between ECB and Pietersen over his schedule, it resulted in the latter's early retirement from international limited-overs cricket. However, the swashbuckler returned to play eight more ODIs and a T20I for England.


7. Bhanuka Rajapaksa

It took 10 days for Sri Lanka's Bhanuka Rajapaksa to drop out of his decision to retire from international cricket. Rajapaksa had retired citing "familial obligations". Following a meeting with Sri Lankan Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa, he withdrew his retirement.

6. Shahid Afridi

2006, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017… It's hard to keep a count on Shahid Afridi's retirements. The man with many retirements, as one can call Afridi, after retiring from cricket every now and then, five times to be precise, made as many as four comebacks. He still features in a few leagues but stands retired from international cricket.


5. Ambati Rayudu

After the World Cup 2019 snub, a gutted Ambati Rayudu quit all forms of cricket in July that year. But, a moment of realisation hit after a month or so as he took a U-turn on his decision and made himself available for selection in domestic cricket. Rayudu repeated his actions when he announced his retirement in IPL 2022 with a tweet. However, later on he deleted the tweet, continued to play for Chennai Super Kings and lifted the trophy in 2023.


4. Dwayne Bravo

West Indies' Dwayne Bravo bid adieu to international cricket in 2018. But the all-rounder came back out of retirement to play the T20 World Cup 2021 for the Windies. As the West Indies made an early exit from the tournament, he again called it quits.


3. Moeen Ali

As England sat in a pickle without a spinner for the Ashes 2023, they had no option but to call back Moeen Ali, who had retired from Test cricket in 2021. Willing to play in the Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum regime, Moeen played a pivotal role for England in the series.


2. Tamim Iqbal

Tamim Iqbal addressed the media on July 6. His sudden retirement from international cricket came as a shock to many. While people were still coming to terms with his emotional breakdown in a press conference, Tamim was convinced to continue playing for Bangladesh by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.


1. Ben Stokes

Fresh in the list is England's Ben Stokes. In July 2022, Stokes had retired from ODI cricket. But he has now made himself available and is also included in England's provisional 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup 2023.