Piyush Chawla announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on Friday, ending an illustrious career that saw him win two World Cups with India. Chawla was part of India's T20 and ODI World Cup-winning squads in 2007 and 2011 respectively. He represented India in three Tests, 25 ODIs, and seven T20Is, taking 43 wickets across the three formats of the game.
With Chawla bidding goodbye, we now have just one figure standing tall from India's 2011 World Cup triumph, which was also the country's last in the format. In this article, we take a look at the 15-member squad, who's the only one active from it, and where are they others...
Who's the only one active at the moment?
The only member of the squad that is currently active is Virat Kohli. However, Kohli has announced retirement from T20Is and Tests but will continue to play the 50-over format, where he also holds the record for highest number of centuries by any batter.
Kohli also continues to play in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) - and became the champion in the latest edition with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who also won their maiden trophy in the competition.
What about the others?
MS Dhoni: The wicketkeeper-batter was the captain that led the side to the World Cup glory. He retired from international cricket in August 2020, which was after over a year than his final appearance for the Men In Blue at the World Cup in England. He, however, remains an active player in the IPL and was retained by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as an uncapped player as per the latest rules.
Sachin Tendulkar: Tendulkar announced retirement from ODI cricket in 2012 but it was only after he smashed a historic 100th international century during the Asia Cup match against Bangladesh in the same year. A year later, Tendulkar hung his boots from Test cricket, playing his final red-ball match against the West Indies, which was also his 200 Test appearance. He is part of the Mumbai Indians support staff and is named an icon of the franchise as per the information available on its official website. Tendulkar also takes part in cricket leagues such as Road Safety, Legends League, etc.
Gautam Gambhir: He played a big role in helping India lift the World Cup trophy back in 2011 and made his last international appearance in 2014. Gambhir announced his retirement in 2018 and was also seen serving as a mentor and coach of IPL franchises. He currently serves as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team.
Yuvraj Singh: Yuvraj Singh also retired in 2019 and was last seen playing in the Legends League Cricket. He also works with youngsters to hon their skills. Some of the names are Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, and Ramandeep Singh.
Virender Sehwag: Sehwag played his last match for India in 2013 and formally announced retirement from all formats in 2015. Following his retirement he was part of the Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) support staff and now works as a cricket commentator and analyst.
Zaheer Khan: Zaheer announced his retirement from international cricket in 2015 and has since taken up mentoring roles. He was part of the Mumbai Indians franchise and was mentor of the Lucknow Super Giants in the latest edition. However, reports suggest that his contract might not be renewed by the franchise.
Harbhajan Singh: The off-spinner made his last India appearance in 2016 and retired from the sport in 2021. He has since taken up stints as commentator and TV pundit.
Suresh Raina: Raina announced retirement from international cricket in 2020, which was shortly after Dhoni made his decision. He like his former teammate Harbhajan has taken up stints as commentator and TV pundit.
Ashish Nehra: Nehra's story is noteworthy. After being part of the 2011 World Cup set-up and soon fading out, the pacer revived his T20I career in 2016–17 with strong performances. He retired after a farewell match in Delhi in 2017 and post that Nehra has moved into coaching, which saw him guide Gujarat Titans to IPL glory in their debut season. Nehra is still part of the franchise and his antics beyond the boundary ropes is at times compared to a football manager.
Munaf Patel: Munaf announced his retirement in 2018, and is seen occasionally tweeting about the sport.
Yusuf Pathan: Yusuf mostly remained on the fringes despite his solid power-hitting reputation and ultimately decided to call it quits in 2021. He has now joined politics and is also the Member of Parliament and is part of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Ravichandran Ashwin: Ashwin became a part of several glorious chapters, since the 2011 World Cup and announced retirement from international cricket in December last year, which was midway during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
S Sreesanth: The pacer’s career took a major hit after his arrest during the 2013 IPL spot-fixing scandal, following which he was banned from all cricketing activities. His ban was eventually cleared in 2020 but his participation was only limited to domestic cricket since making a return. The Kerala pacer eventually retired in 2022.
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