The whole world is about to enter the new year. In the year 2025, big tournaments like Champions Trophy, World Test Championship and Women’s ODI World Cup took place in the cricket world. Many cricketers have made a series of records, but many legends have also said goodbye to the game of cricket. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma said goodbye to Test cricket, while Steve Smith has retired from ODI cricket.

This process of taking retirement may continue in the year 2026 also. See here the list of those legendary cricketers who can retire in the year 2026.

These 5 cricketers can take retirement in 2026

Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav made his international cricket debut in the year 2021 and within a few years he has become the captain of the T20 team. He will be seen captaining Team India in the T20 World Cup 2026, but Surya’s poor form can sink his career. Suryakumar Yadav has been able to score only 244 runs in the last 25 T20 matches. He has not played any half-century innings after the series against Bangladesh in 2024. If Suryakumar is not able to recover from this poor form, then the end of his career does not seem to be far away.

glen maxwell

37-year-old Glenn Maxwell has retired from ODI cricket. Maxwell has not played Test matches after 2017 and is currently active only in T20 format. It is possible that T20 World Cup 2026 may be Maxwell’s last major tournament, because after that the Australian Cricket Board would like to prepare a new team for 2028. In such a situation, Maxwell will have to take a difficult decision on his career.

david miller

David Miller has been representing South Africa in international cricket since 2010. Has scored more than 7 thousand runs in his international career. Miller’s dream of winning the World Cup for South Africa in the 2024 T20 World Cup final remained unfulfilled. In 2026, he can make his last attempt to win the World Cup for his country.

mohammed nabi

Last year, Afghanistan’s veteran player Mohammad Nabi had said that the Champions Trophy would be his last major tournament in the 50-over format. Nabi said that after that he would probably play international cricket for one more year. Based on that statement, Nabi can be seen in Afghanistan jersey for the last time in T20 World Cup 2026.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane has not played any match for the Indian team after July 2023. Rahane bats in the upper order, but there is no vacancy till number-4 in the white ball teams. At the same time, the Test team needs a number-3 batsman, on whom many experiments have been done. But the management under Gautam Gambhir has been giving more opportunities to the youth, so there is very little chance of a comeback for Rahane. For him, retirement seems to be the last option.

The topic of IPL 2026 is much discussed because mini auction is going to be held on 16th December. This time many great players can be seen in the auction, because great players like Andre Russell to Glenn Maxwell have been released. Everyone will be keeping an eye on the players who have been released in the auction, but there are also some retained cricketers who can be seen playing for the last time in IPL 2026. See here the list of players who can retire after IPL 2026.

1. MS Dhoni

The first name in the list is that of MS Dhoni. Whenever the new season of IPL is about to come, the news of Dhoni’s retirement starts gaining momentum. But every time Dhoni puts an end to the rumors of retirement. Chennai Super Kings CEO Kashi Vishwanath has confirmed that Dhoni will play in IPL 2026. Dhoni’s knee problem is not hidden from anyone, while Sanju Samson is being seen as his successor. Samson has now come to CSK from Rajasthan Royals.

2. Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma has been retained by Gujarat Titans for IPL 2026. His form has not been very good in the last few seasons. In IPL 2025, he took only 4 wickets in 7 matches and the economy rate was 11.80. Last season he also became a victim of fitness related problems. If Ishant retires from the Indian Premier League after 2026, it will not be a surprising decision.

3. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane was the captain of Kolkata Knight Riders last season, but under him the KKR team stood eighth in the points table. Now, to keep the captaincy option open, KKR has retained him for IPL 2026 also. Rahane was not finding any buyer in the mega auction, but KKR had played a gamble and bid on him. Rahane scored 390 runs in 12 matches in IPL 2025 and his strike rate was also around 148. But the problem is that apart from KKR, no other team is showing interest in Rahane.

Also read:

Exclusive: ‘Indian Management should get Nobel Prize, because Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Priyansh…’, Basit Ali said to ABP

Ajinkya Rahane is still hoping to make a comeback in the Indian Test team. He has sent a strong message to the selection committee of Team India by scoring the 42nd century of his first-class career in the Ranji Trophy match against Chhattisgarh. He says that age should not be a criterion for team selection. He also said that he was ready to play in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but no one contacted him for selection.

My team needs…

After the end of the second day’s play in the Mumbai vs Chhattisgarh Ranji Trophy match, Ajinkya Rahane said, “I believe that experienced players like me should be given more opportunities. I was not approached. I can only focus on the things which are under my control, that’s what I am doing at the moment. Team India needed me in Australia, I was fully prepared to play there.”

The question is whether Rahane was really ready to play against Australia? Last Ranji season, Rahane was not even among the top-4 batsmen of Mumbai. His average in 9 matches was 35.92. On the basis of these figures, Rahane is claiming to be selected in the BGT series. India lost 1-3 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Selection should not be done according to age

There was also speculation about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma that due to their increasing age, the pressure of retirement may increase on them. Rohit scored 202 runs in the series and Virat scored 74 runs in Sydney, putting all those speculations to rest.

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane said, “Age should not be a criterion for selection, it all depends on passion. How much passion do you have for playing red ball cricket? Michael Hussey made his debut after the age of 30, yet he scored runs. Experience matters in red ball cricket. Personally, I believe that Team India needed me in Australia.”

Also read:

90 overs 32 wickets, shortest test match in history played in India, Riyan Parag shines

Five Players Now Impossible To Return To Team India: The Indian team has gone to Australia tour, where Team India will play 3-match ODI and 5-match T20 International series. On October 19, the Indian team played the first ODI match, in which Team India had to face defeat by 7 wickets (DLS Method). Team India’s second ODI match will be played on 23 October at Adelaide Oval. After the Australia tour, the Indian team has to face South Africa at home, where all eyes will be on the team selection. Five star players were not selected in the team for the Australia tour, after which the return of these five players to Team India now seems impossible.

Return of these 5 players in the Indian team is now impossible

1- Ajinkya Rahane

India’s top-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has so far scored 5077 runs in 85 Test matches, 2962 runs in 90 ODI matches and 375 runs in 20 T20 International matches in his career. Rahane played his last match for Team India in the Test match against West Indies on 20-24 July 2023.

2- Mohammed Shami

Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami has so far taken 229 wickets in 64 Test matches, 206 wickets in 108 ODI matches and 27 wickets in 25 T20 International matches in his career. Whereas Shami played his last match for Team India on 9 March 2025 in the ODI match against New Zealand.

3- Prithvi Shaw

India’s opening batsman Prithvi Shaw has so far scored 339 runs in 5 Test matches, 189 runs in 6 ODI matches and 0 runs in only 1 T20 International match in his career. Prithvi played his last match for Team India on 25 July 2021 in the T20 International match against Sri Lanka.

4- Vijay Shankar

India’s all-rounder Vijay Shankar has so far scored 223 runs in 12 ODI matches and 101 runs in 9 T20 Internationals in his career. Vijay played his last match for Team India on 27 June 2019 in the ODI against West Indies.

5- Venkatesh Iyer

India’s left-handed batsman Venkatesh Iyer has so far scored 24 runs in 2 ODI matches and 133 runs in 9 T20 International matches in his career. Venkatesh played his last match for Team India on 27 February 2022 in the T20 International against Sri Lanka.

Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season is starting from October 15. Before that, Mumbai cricket team has announced a 16-member squad for the match against Jammu and Kashmir. The Mumbai vs Jammu and Kashmir match is to be played from 15-18 October, in which Shardul Thakur will be captaining the team. Thakur will replace Ajinkya Rahane, who stepped down from the captaincy of the Mumbai team before the start of the season. Sarfaraz Khan and Shivam Dubey have also got a place in this team.

42-time Ranji champion Mumbai would like to avenge last season’s defeat by defeating Jammu and Kashmir in the very first match. Let us tell you that Delhi has been placed in Elite Group D along with Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Pondicherry.

Shardul Thakur will be the captain

Shardul Thakur will be captaining the Mumbai team in the match against Jammu and Kashmir. Apart from them, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dubey, Sarfaraz Khan and Musheer Khan are also included in this team. All eyes will also be on the Ranji Trophy return of Musheer, who missed most of the matches last season due to a car accident.

Ayush Mhatre, who opened for Chennai Super Kings in IPL and was the captain of India’s Under-19 team, will also be strengthening the batting in the team. A mix of experience and youthful enthusiasm has been created in the Mumbai squad.

Shreyas Iyer not in the team

Shreyas Iyer, who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket, has not got a chance because he is on a break from red-ball cricket due to a back problem. Suryakumar Yadav is also not a part of this team, who was seen playing in the semi-finals last season.

Mumbai squad: Shardul Thakur (captain), Ayush Mhatre, Akash Anand, Hardik Tamore, Ajinkya Rahane, Siddhesh Lad, Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dubey, Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Tushar Deshpande, Sylvester D’Souza, Musheer Khan, Irfan Umair, Akhil Herwadkar, Royston Diaz.

Also read:

Ravichandran Ashwin told why India could not win the WTC title both the times, held it responsible

IND vs AFG Bengaluru Test Match: A match was played between India and Afghanistan, which ended in two days. Afghanistan team managed to all out India, but still Team India won the match by an innings and 262 runs. This was a big victory for India in the test match. India scored 474 runs in the first innings, but Afghanistan team could not achieve this target even after losing 20 wickets. In this match, the Indian bowlers forced the Afghan batsmen to kneel.

India has set a target like a mountain

This Bengaluru Test was played between India and Afghanistan in 2018. In this match, Team India won the toss and decided to bat first. When the Indian team came out to bat, it became difficult for the Afghanistan bowlers to dismiss the opening batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay. There was a partnership of 168 runs between these two players. Shikhar Dhawan played an inning of 107 runs in 96 balls. Whereas Murali Vijay scored 105 runs in 153 balls.

After the brilliant century innings of Shikhar and Vijay, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya also scored half-centuries. Coming in the end, Umesh Yadav scored 26 runs in 21 balls in this test match by hitting 2 fours and sixes. India made a big score of 474 runs in the first innings and put Team India in a strong position.

24 wickets fell in a single day

In this match played between India and Afghanistan, Team India had scored 347 runs at the loss of 6 wickets on the first day. After this, with the fall of 4 wickets on the second day, the Indian team was all out at 474. When the Afghanistan team came to bat, India’s bowlers bowled out Afghanistan for 109 in the first innings. In the second innings, Afghanistan played follow on, but this time India destroyed the opposition team on the score of 103. India all out Afghanistan twice in the second day’s play itself. In this way, 24 wickets fell in the second day’s play.

India achieved increased victory

While bowling against Afghanistan, Ravichandran Ashwin took 4 wickets in the first innings for India. Ravindra Jadeja got 4 wickets in the second innings. Afghanistan team could score only 212 runs in two innings. India won this match by an innings and 262 runs under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane.

Read also

7 wickets fell at 76, then women’s ‘Glenn Maxwell’ played the band for Pakistan, blew everyone’s senses

Indian Legends Retirement This year: Many players of Indian cricket world are announcing retirement one after the other. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli took retirement from Test cricket this year. At the same time, Cheteshwar Pujara said goodbye to all the formats of cricket. Pujara played the last Test match for India in June 2023 against Australia, but now that Pujara did not see any scope for a return to the team, on August 24, the legendary player took retirement. Apart from Pujara, there are many more players in Team India who have been running out of the Indian squad for a long time.

1- Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma has been running out of India’s T20, ODI and Tests for a long time. Ishant played the last T20 match for Team India in October 2013. Ishant was seen in the ODI team for the last time in January 2016 and this player played the last Test match for India in November 2021. Despite Ishant being out of the team for a long time, this player has not announced his retirement from international cricket.

2- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Bhuvneshwar Kumar)

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been out of Team India for almost three years. Bhubaneswar was last seen in a T20 match against New Zealand in November 2022 at the Indian squad. This player played the last ODI match for India in January 2022. Bhubaneswar is out of January 2018 from India’s Test team. Like Ishant Sharma, it seems difficult for this player to return to the team, but so far Bhuvneshwar Kumar has not made any announcement about retirement.

3- Mohammed Shami (Mohammed Shami)

Mohammed Shami is running out of June 2023 from India’s Test team. Shami did not get a chance in the five -match Test series against England. In such a situation, this player can also retire from Test cricket. Mohammed Shami played the last T20 match for India in February this year, but Shami was not taken in the Asia Cup T20 squad. Shami was part of India’s ODI team in March, it will have to be seen whether this player is taken in the series against Australia or not.

4- Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane has also been out of Team India for a long time. Rahane played the last Test match for India in July 2023. At the same time, Rahane was last seen in February 2018 and T20 in August 2016. Now there is no hope of Rahane’s return to the team. In such a situation, it can be speculated that Rahane will also retire from international cricket without return.

Also read

Asia Cup 2025: Gill vs Afridi, Bumrah vs Ayub; There will be a close fight between these 10 players in India-Pakistan match

Cheteshwar Pujara is the fifth Indian cricketer to retire in 2025. Before them, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have retired from the Test, on the other hand Varun Aaron and Wriddhiman Saha have retired from all formats of cricket. It seems as if this process of retirement is not going to stop here, because many other Indian cricketers are also standing on the threshold of retirement. So know about those Indian cricketers who can retire very soon.

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane represented Team India in 195 international matches, which has 8414 runs in his name. More than two years have passed since he played the last match for India. He has not played any white ball match for Team India after 2018. Looking at the youth Test team getting ready, they are also expected to return to the red-ball format. They can also announce retirement very soon.

Amit Mishra

Amit Mishra has retired from the Indian Premier League, but till now he has not said goodbye to international cricket. He took 156 wickets in his international career and after 2017 he has not returned to the Indian team. New options of leg spin have been constantly coming, while Amit Mishra’s age has also been 42. Therefore, it seems that their retirement is not far away.

Karun Nair

Karun Nair had a chance to show some miracles after 8 years, but on the England tour, he was able to score only 205 runs in 8 innings. After 2017, he returned to the Indian team in 2025. He was tried on number-3 as well as fifth order, but his bat could not do anything special. Now hardly he could get a chance in playing XI.

Also read:

From Sachin Tendulkar to Gill-Pant, see the reaction of Indian cricketers on Cheteshwar Pujara’s retirement

Ajinkya Rahane Playing Eleven for Asia Cup: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced Team India for the Asia Cup on August 19. The BCCI announced the 15 -member team, whose captain Suryakumar Yadav has been made. At the same time, Shubman Gill has got a place in India’s T20 team, along with this Gill has been made the vice -captain of the team. At the same time, India’s legendary player Ajinkya Rahane has chosen the playing XI for the Asia Cup out of these 15 players on his YouTube channel.

Sanju Samson out of playing XI

Ajinkya Rahane has chosen Shubman Gill for the opening with Abhishek Sharma at his playing XI for the Asia Cup. Rahane said on his YouTube channel that I would like to see Samson privately in the team, because he has done very well. But now Gill is back in the team, then perhaps Sanju Samson may have to sit outside.

Rahane’s best bowler

Ajinkya Rahane has included Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh in the list of favorite pace bowler for the Asia Cup. Rahane said that he wants to see Bumrah and Arshadeep bowling together. Rahane has also given a place to Kuldeep Yadav in his playing XI. Kuldeep was kept out of the playing XI during the five -Test series against England.

India’s playing XI

Rahane has not given a place in the playing XI along with Sanju Samson as well as Varun Chakraborty. After giving Abhishek and Gill opening, Rahane has placed Tilak Verma at number 3. After this, captain Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have been placed at number 4 and 5. Jitesh Sharma has been included in the team as a wicketkeeper, who can come to bat at number six. Apart from these, Akshar Patel, Jaspreet Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana have been placed in the team.

Also read

BCCI changed fitness test, now bowlers must pass Bronco Test; Only then will you get a place in Team India

On the one hand, new changes are going on in the Indian cricket team, now something similar is happening in domestic cricket. Ajinkya Rahane has given up the captaincy of Mumbai, but at the same time he also made it clear that he will continue to play for the Mumbai team. Apart from him, Cheteshwar Pujara will also be available for the upcoming domestic season. Rahane believes that now the time has come to give command in the hands of a young player and he called the captaincy of Mumbai to be a matter of pride.

Ajinkya Rahane left the captaincy

The new Ranji season is going to start from October 15. Before that, Ajinkya Rahane said on leaving the captaincy of Mumbai, “It was a matter of honor to captain the Mumbai team and win the championship with it. Since the new season is getting closer, I think it’s time to prepare the new captain. So I have decided not to continue the game as a captain.”

Along with this, Ajinkya Rahane also said that he will continue to play for Mumbai as a player and he is excited to play the next season. Ajinkya Rahane captained Mumbai in 70 matches, on the other hand he has played more than 186 matches for Mumbai in his 18 -year domestic career.

Cheteshwar Pujara will have returns

According to Cricbuzz, an official of the Saurashtra Cricket Association said, “Pujara has shown interest in playing in the next Ranji season. This is obviously good news for us because his experience will be a very good thing for the team. Let us tell you that Pujara has played 103 Test matches for India, he has not got a place in Team India after June 2023.

Recently, Cheteshwar Pujara was not given a place in the West Zone Squad for the Dilip Trophy by the selectors. Explaining the reason for this, the selectors said that they want to prepare a young team. The Ranji season will start from October 15, where Saurashtra will face Karnataka in his first match.

Also read:

Rohit Sharma took a big decision to save his career! 3 ODIs will play against Australia-A