5 cricketers who may never play international cricket again

The international cricket standards have drastically gone a few notches up in the recent times. Getting into an international team is tough, but making a comeback after getting dropped is even tougher. With a pool of talent coming in from domestic cricket and various T20 leagues across the world, the competition has become cut–throat and players are forgotton soon. Hence, many cricketers who were proven match-winners in their heydays but have been dropped from the team later have not been able to come back and may never in the future.

Here are 5 cricketers whose international cricket days may be over.

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#5 Lasith Malinga

At his prime, he has shattered many stumps and broken many batsmen's toes with his yorkers. But today, Lasith Malinga is nowhere close to where he was in 2011-12. A prolonged knee injury kept him out of scheme of things for a major part of 2016.

After that, he has never found rhythm and got going in international cricket. His appointment as Mumbai Indians bowling mentor further summed up his IPL career as well. It is safe to say that Malinga's playing days are done.

#4 Ian Bell

The Warwickshire batsman is another one who has faded away after being dropped and is unlikely to be seen in international cricket again. England's leading run scorer in ODI cricket and a 118-Test veteran struggled with lack of consistency in 2015. Finally selectors lost their patience and Ian Bell was not picked for England's tour of South Africa way back in 2015-16.

Even when, England needed an experienced middle-order batsman in the recently concluded Ashes, they did not call back Bell, which sent a clear message that they have moved on. Bell last played for England in November 2015.

#3 Harbhajan Singh

The off-spinner was an ace bowler and a trump-card during Sourav Ganguly's era and has won many matches for India when he was at the peak of his career. Gradually, his wicket-taking abilities faded away and he was shown the exit doors in 2011. He made a couple of brief comebacks after that but failed to impress.

Today, after the emergence of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, when even Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravinder Jadeja are not finding a place in the Indian ODI side, it is beyond imagination that Harbhajan will find one. He played his last match for India in October 2015.

#2 Yuvraj Singh

Yuvraj Singh's story is by far the most inspirational one will ever come across. After defeating cancer in 2012, Yuvi was a permanent member in Indian limited-overs setup for a good year and half before being axed again. However, the 'comeback man' of Indian cricket made another return to the Indian side and showed his prowess with a few blistering knocks in the middle order.

When the fitness standards in the Indian team were made tougher, Yuvraj was not able to meet them and was axed. Even though he has passed the fitness test, it looks unrealistic that India will go back to him for the 2019 World Cup. His last appearance was in June 2017 in the West Indies.

#1 Gautam Gambhir

The Delhi opener was a vital cog in the Indian top order in his heydays. However in the latter half of his career, he completely went off the boil due to inconsistency. Gautam Gambhir made brief comebacks in 2014 and 2016 but failed to impress on both occasions.

At 36, it seems unlikely that he will represent India again, especially when a new bunch of youngsters are coming up. Gambhir last donned the national colors in November 2016 against England at Rajkot.