BJ Watling, the New Zealand cricketer, recently retired from cricket with a World Test Championship final victory over India. He held the mace in his last and final game as a cricketer. He was one of the few lucky cricketers to retire from cricket in a particular format with a trophy in their last game.
Cricwizz takes a look at the lucky cricketers who were able to achieve this feat in their last game in a particular format.
Glenn McGrath (Australia)
McGrath was part of the third straight final for Australia in the 2007 World Cup along with Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist. He had already retired from Test cricket in the Ashes series earlier that season. And the World Cup was his farewell tournament. He gave it his all in the 2007 World Cup, walking away with the winner’s trophy after Australia defeated Sri Lanka in the final, and also with the man of the series award after he bagged a record 26 wickets in 11 matches in the tournament.
Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka)
The Sri Lankan legendary duo has had to endure final losses in quite a few ICC tournaments. They have had to settle with runner’s trophy in two World T20s, and two 50-overs World Cups, before finally tasting success together in the 2014 World T20 final against India.
Sangakkara and Jayawardene played useful cameos with the bat in the final to break their team’s final jinx. Jayawardene scored a valuable 24, while Sangakkara finished off the chase with 35-ball 52 not out. Sangakkara was named man of the final, and Sri Lankan players hauled him on their shoulders to give a perfect farewell to their legend from T20Is.
Michael Clarke (Australia)
Clarke was leading the Australian team in the 2015 World Cup when he announced that the tournament would be his last in limited-overs cricket. He led his team to the final of the tournament, scoring a brilliant 74 off 72 balls against New Zealand to help Australia win their fifth World Cup. He finally hung his boots across all formats later that year.
Imran Khan (Pakistan)
Imran Khan came out of retirement to lead Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup. With some luck and some terrific performances, Pakistan set up a title clash with England. In the final, Imran led from the front, and slammed a match-winning 72, and also took a wicket, to help Pakistan beat England by 22 runs, and win their maiden World Cup title. Imran then called time on his career to walk away with a trophy in his last game for his country.
Cover Credits: CricketSriLanka
