5 Players who retired from cricket at young age

By Ravi - Sep 03, 2025 11:27 AM
Last updated on Sep 03, 2025 11:27 AM

Cricket is considered to be the most exciting game in the world. Many legendary players have given memorable moments to fans through this game for a long time, but there were some cricketers who had full potential to become a big star, yet circumstances forced them to say goodbye to international cricket at an early age. Sometimes injury, sometimes personal reasons, sometimes mental pressure, due to these reasons their career remained incomplete. Let's know about five such players.

1. Craig Kieswetter (England)

England won the T20 World Cup for the first time in 2010. Wicketkeeper-batsman Craig Kieswetter played a key role in winning the title. He scored 222 runs in the tournament and was touted as England's next big white-ball star, but at the age of 27, he suffered a serious eye injury during a county match. The injury left him with poor eyesight and forced him to retire from cricket.

2. James Taylor (England)

England's James Taylor is considered one of the unluckiest players. He had a great start to his career, scoring at an average of over 42 in the ODI format, but at the age of 26, he was diagnosed with a serious heart disease (arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy). This disease could have been fatal, so he had to quit cricket immediately.

3. Nicholas Pooran (West Indies)

Nicholas Pooran is a big star of T20 cricket and is in great demand in leagues around the world. He surprised everyone by retiring from international cricket at the age of 29. Pooran became the first West Indies batsman to score more than 2000 runs in T20 internationals. He has scored 1983 runs in 61 ODIs and 2275 runs in 106 T20 matches. However, he took this decision to focus on franchise cricket.

4. Ravi Shastri (India)

India's all-rounder Ravi Shastri performed brilliantly in the 1980-90s. He scored more than 6900 runs and took 280 wickets in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs, but he retired from cricket at the age of just 30. However, after this he got into commentary and cricket coaching and was the head coach of the Indian team from 2017 to 2021.

5. Saqlain Mushtaq (Pakistan)

Pakistan's legendary spinner Saqlain Mushtaq is known as the master of the 'doosra' ball. He has taken 208 wickets in 49 Tests and 288 wickets in 169 ODIs. He is also the fastest bowler to take 250 ODI wickets, but due to a knee injury and eye problem, he had to retire at the age of 27.

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