Top 10 retirements from international cricket in 2017

All good things must come to an end goes the old adage, and in accordance with this, quite a few players bid farewell to international cricket in 2017. In this slideshow, we take a look at ten of the most noteworthy retirements we witnessed this year:

10. Nawroz Mangal

The story of the Afghan cricket team has captured the imagination of the cricketing world. And one of the scriptwriters of that beautiful story is Nawroz Mangal, a player under whose leadership Afghanistan achieved ODI status and qualified for their first ever T20 World Cup.

Capable of playing both as an opener and a middle-order batsman, Mangal scored 1139 runs in ODIs including two centuries and 505 runs in T20Is at a strike rate of 111.47. He was also a useful off-spinner with eight ODI wickets at 29.37 and four T20I wickets at 20 apiece.

Though the 33-year old gave up captaincy in 2010, he was a crucial member of the Afghan team that qualified for the ICC 2015 World Cup. In spite of his retirement earlier this year, he will continue his association with the Afghanistan team in the capacity of their chief national selector.

9. Luke Ronchi

Luke Ronchi represented both Australia and New Zealand in international cricket

Luke Ronchi began his career as a hard-hitting wicket-keeper-batsman for Australia. In only his fourth ODI, he validated his hard-hitting credentials by scoring a quickfire 64 off only 28 balls. However, that was his only contribution of note in Australian colours as his form dipped thereafter leading to his exclusion from both the national team and his state team.

In 2012, Ronchi moved to New Zealand, the country of his birth, in a bid to resurrect his career. A stint with Wellington aided his cause as he got game time under his belt and a year later, in 2013, he became eligible to play for New Zealand.

The 36-year old's overall career numbers(Australia and New Zealand combined) make for a decent reading. He finished with an ODI tally of 1397 runs and a T20I tally of 359 runs. In both these formats, his strike rates were well in excess of 100. He was also a handful behind the stumps as he claimed 134 catches in his career.

8. Dwayne Smith

Dwayne Smith was a key member of West Indies' limited overs setup

On his test debut, Dwayne Smith scored an attacking century against South Africa when his team was in a tricky situation. Despite his heroics on debut, he went on to play only a further nine tests for the West Indies.

A hard-hitting batsman and a handy stump to stump bowler, Smith was a key member of West Indies' limited overs setup. He played 105 ODIs in which he scored 1560 runs at an average of 18.57 and a strike rate of 92.69. He also picked up 61 wickets at 37.45 apiece and an economy rate of 5.02.

In 33 T20Is, the Barbadian scored 582 runs at an average of 18.18 and a strike rate of 122.78. Having not played a single international game for the West Indies since March 2015, Smith decided to call time on his international career earlier this year.

7. South Africa's 'Kolpak trio'

Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and David Wiese signed Kolpak deals earlier in the year

In September 2016, Cricket South Africa announced a revised selection policy which mandated the selection of a minimum of six players classed as black (including at least two black Africans) in the starting eleven for each game. In the wake of this decision, an exodus of players was feared.

Cricket South Africa's worst fears came true when three of its established national team players namely Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and David Wiese signed Kolpak deals with English counties, thereby effectively ruling them out from international cricket. While Abbott was a regular across formats, Rossouw and Wiese featured prominently in coloured clothing.

Russell Domingo, South Africa's coach, was particularly critical of the decision taken by the players and accused them of not being sincere with the management. Captain Faf Du Plessis appealed Cricket South Africa to act promptly to prevent any further departures.

6. Saeed Ajmal

Saeed Ajmal announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in November

While Saeed Ajmal picked up wickets by the dozen right throughout his career, the question marks surrounding his bowling action never really disappeared. Ultimately, his action was his undoing as he turned from 'mystery spinner' to 'misery spinner' having remodelled it in compliance with ICC's norms.

The 40-year old was known for dumbfounding batsmen with his bag of tricks which included variations in speed and flight and a potent doosra. He was one of the key architects of Pakistan's win in the 2009 ICC World T20. Riding on his bowling, Pakistan also reached the semi-finals of both the 2010 ICC World T20 and the 2011 ICC World Cup.

In early 2012, when Pakistan hosted England for a test series in UAE, Ajmal spun a web around the strong English batting order as he picked up 24 wickets and led his team to a 3-0 series win. However, a couple of years later, the ICC banned him from bowling for having an illegal action.

An inability to break into the national team with a remodelled action forced the Pakistani off-spinner to retire. Despite all the controversies surrounding his action, he can look back at his career with pride as he finished with 447 international wickets at a combined average of less than 25.

5. Adam Voges

Adam Voges was one of Australia's most consistent performers over the last two years

Adam Voges first turned heads when he scored a 62-ball hundred in a List A game in Australia during the 2004-05 season. Midway through the 2006/07 Ashes, he was named in Australia's squad for the Ashes, but as luck would have it, he didn't make his debut.

In 2007, the 38-year old made both his ODI and T20I debuts. However, the selectors never really persisted with him as he played just 38 limited overs internationals between 2007 and 2013. Yet, he averaged in excess of 40 in both ODIs and T20Is.

Just when it seemed that Voges will go through his career without donning a Baggy Green, he made his test debut versus the West Indies at the age of 35. He made the most of this opportunity as he slammed a ton and in the process, became the oldest debutant to do so.

In three successive innings played between December 2015 and February 2016, the former Aussie vice-captain amassed 614 runs before being dismissed, going past Sachin Tendulkar's record of scoring 497 runs between two dismissals. Voges retired with an average of 61.87 in tests, a number bettered only by Steve Smith and Sir Don Bradman.

4. Shahid Afridi

For close to two decades, Shahid Afridi was a key player for Pakistan

Below are the steps we performed before including Shahid Afridi's name on this list:

-Checked and cross-checked his age

-Noted the date on which he announced his retirement

-Calculated the number of days between that date and today

-Pray that he doesn't retract his retirement

While some of our readers might think we are being paranoid, we are well within our rights to do so as we are talking of a cricketer who has retired five times and has retracted it four times. Jokes apart, Afridi's retirement left a void in international cricket, both in terms of quality of play and entertainment value.

Earlier in his career, the former Pakistan captain earned plaudits for his swashbuckling batting. However, as his career progressed, he became more of a bowler who could tonk the ball around. Yet he excelled in both departments as he scored more than 10,000 international runs and picked up close to 550 wickets.

3. Misbah-Ul-Haq

Misbah-ul-Haq: The Mr.Cool of Pakistan cricket

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again

Misbah-ul-Haq perfectly embodies this 19th century proverb by William Hickson. Time and time again during his long career, critics and fans alike ripped him apart when he failed, but he stayed unfazed, put his head down, got to work and won them over.

Having made his debut in 2001, Misbah endured a torrid first few years leading to his exit from the team. Despite the early failures, he made his way back into the team in 2007 on the back of some solid performances in domestic cricket.

During the inaugural ICC World T20, the 43-year old produced a moment on the field which both Indian and Pakistani fans remember with varying degrees of fondness. Thereafter, he became a permanent fixture of Pakistan's side courtesy of his measured, reassuring batting.

The batsman from Mianwali turned a whole new page when he was made the captain of Pakistan. Under his leadership, Pakistan went from strength to strength and became the number one test team. All this, while he continued scoring truckloads of runs.

2. Ashish Nehra

No number of injuries could bog Ashish Nehra down

In an interview on a popular online talk show, Ashish Nehra claimed that he underwent 12 surgeries during his career. In his view, injuries couldn't keep him down, as there is no bigger motivation than playing for India. That in a nutshell sums up why 'Nehraji' is adored so much.

Armed with genuine pace and the ability to move the ball, Nehra was an absolute nightmare for batsmen when on song. His attributes were on full show during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa where he bowled that famous spell of 6/23 versus England.

Injuries to his back and his ankle kept the 38-year old on the sidelines between 2005 and 2009. A successful comeback thereafter led to his inclusion in Indian team for the 2011 World Cup where he played a vital role in India's semi-final win over Pakistan. An injury picked up in that game meant more time on the sidelines for him and it seemed as if his career was destined for an unceremonious finish.

However, the Delhi bowler scripted a dream T20I comeback in 2016 on the back of an impressive IPL. After his retirement last month, Nehraji has pursued an active commentary career and one can only hope that he continues to entertain for years to come.

1. Younis Khan

Younis Khan was one of Pakistan's finest batsmen

Instability, uncertainty and controversy are a few words that are often associated with Pakistan cricket. Amid this chaos, men like Younis Khan walk in with calmness and authority to restore balance.

A fighting test century on debut meant that pundits and former players earmarked Younis for greater things from the offset. And he did live up to the promise as he became the first ever Pakistani batsmen to go past 10,000 test runs, a haul punctuated with 34 hundreds which included five double hundreds and a triple hundred.

The former Pakistan captain was equally effective in ODIs, a format in which he scored more than 7000 runs. Though he didn't exactly set the stage on fire in T20Is, he led his team to the ICC World T20 title in 2009. His career tally of 286 catches is a testimony to his safe pair of hands.