Most Respected Retirements in International Cricket

[Trundler27]

Just want to start a discussion on the most respectable retirements of the modern era. By respectable I mean the following: 1 - The player was still a valuable asset to the side in terms of making a difference with bat/ball/leadership 2 - Clear majority of cricket 'experts' and fans did NOT want the player to leave yet 3 - The team got noticeably WEAKER due to his retirement (and not the other way round :wink:) 4 - The void left was significant in that the immediate replacement was not close to the retiring players skill and form (at the time of retiring) I'll try to start the list with my thoughts and let's see how many players ended their careers on top: The first person that comes to mind is Shane Warne Adam Gilchrist Imran Khan??

[The Outsider]

Gavaskar would top the list. Imran was finished as a bowler by the time he retired and was a steady batsman at best. Gilchrist's game had slipped a bit, but he could have carried on for some time given his slipped game is probably the equivalent of most wicket keeper's performances.

[Serani]

how does fulfilling the listed criteria make it a "respected" retirement? Surely a retirement like Strauss where its clear you are holding the team back slightly but were not going to get dropped is more respect worthy.

[Old guy]

glenn macgrath,shane warne even more so since they still have not found decent spinner

[Sandeep99]

Laxman...no Ganguly..no Kumble...no Dravid...partly yes! Sachin.......... HELL NO

[saneindian]

how does fulfilling the listed criteria make it a "respected" retirement? Surely a retirement like Strauss where its clear you are holding the team back slightly but were not going to get dropped is more respect worthy.

Yeah right. If you are Strauss, it doesn't matter if in the last 3 years of your career (~ 30 tests) you were averaging around 30-odd.

[zep1706]

Mark Taylor also had a good retirement.

[Rohit S. Ambani]

There is no such thing as respected retirement, once you retire, you are GONE FOREVER. Who cares what others think about you. Our world ends on day we die. You may love Lara, Gilly for their move, but as a fan I thought they still had lot to offer and their decision was kinda ego clash with selectors/media.