A notable number of cricket legends announced their retirement in the year 2021. Some have pursued careers as cricket experts or in other related activities after retirement, while others have sought careers as coaches. They were all outstanding professional players who had enjoyed great success on both the international and domestic circuits. The top five cricketers who retired from the game in 2021 are featured in this article. Let's take a quick look at their professional achievements. Five Notable Retired Cricketers in 2021 AB de Villiers of South Africa, Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands, Asghar Afghan of Afghanistan, Lasith Malinga of Sri Lanka, and Dale Steyn of South Africa are the top five cricketers who have retired. Take a look at their professional cricket achievements. AB de Villiers International Statistics: M: 415 | Runs: 19,864 | HS: 278* | Ave: 48.33 | 100s: 47 First Class Statistics: M: 141 | Runs: 10,689 | HS: 278* | Ave: 49.71 | 100s: 25 Mr. 360 AB de Villiers declared his retirement from all forms of cricket on November 19, 2021. He was widely regarded as the most destructive batter of his generation and was popular with cricket lovers. This gifted South African owns the world record for the fastest 100 and 150 in ODIs. The fans will always remember De Villiers' unusual and devastating striking technique. Read Spanish Tennis Maestro Rafael Nadal Wins Record 21 Grand Slam Titles Ryan ten Doeschate International Statistics: M: 57 | Runs: 2,074 | HS: 119 | Ave: 57.61 | 100s: 5 | Wickets: 68 | BBI: 4/31 | Ave: 23.11 | 5W: 0  First Class Statistics: M: 203 | Runs: 11,298 | HS: 259* | Ave: 44.30 | 100s: 29 | Wickets: 214 | BBI: 6/20 | Ave: 33.84 | 5W: 7   South African-born Dutch all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate has the most runs for the Netherlands national team. He announced his retirement in September of 2021. Post-retirement, Doeschate was named Kent County Cricket Club's batting coach in December 2021. He was a member of the Netherlands squad at a number of ICC events. Ten Doeschate made 119 runs against England in the 2011 World Cup, becoming the first Dutch player to hit an ODI century against an ICC full member. Ryan ten Doeschate is perhaps the best Dutch player of all time. Asghar Afghan International Statistics: M: 195 | Runs: 4,246 | HS: 164 | Ave: 24.83 | 100s: 2  First Class Statistics: M: 29 | Runs: 1,861 | HS: 164 | Ave: 44.30 | 100s: 6  Asghar Afghan had a decent career for Afghanistan on the international stage. Asghar declared his retirement during the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. He is one of Afghanistan's leading run-scorers and competed in a number of ICC tournaments. Read BPL 2022: Competition among six teams gets heated up in Phase 2 Lasith Malinga International Statistics: M: 340 | Wickets: 546 | BBI: 6/38 | Ave: 28.08 | 5W: 13  First Class Statistics: M: 84 | Wickets: 257 | BBI: 6/17 | Ave: 30.28 | 5W: 7    Lasith Malinga was known as "Slinga" for his toe-crushing Yorker delivery. Malinga was perhaps his generation's finest white-ball bowler. He had a thriving cricket career. Malinga led the Sri Lankan national team at one stage in his career, and Sri Lanka won the 2014 T20 World Cup while he was captain. This right-handed medium pacer is the first bowler in international cricket history to take four wickets in four deliveries twice. Lasith Malinga announced his retirement in September 2021.  Dale Steyn International Statistics: M: 263 | Wickets: 697 | BBI: 7/51 | Ave: 23.38 | 5W: 29 First Class Statistics: M: 141 | Wickets: 618 | BBI: 8/41 | Ave: 23.57 | 5W: 35     Dale Steyn announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on August 31, 2021. He was the most devastating pacer of his generation and one of the all-time great fast-bowlers. Steyn had a remarkable cricket career as a bowler. He did not win any significant trophies with the national team. However, he did help South Africa win a number of international series. Dale Steyn is now South Africa's highest wicket-taker in the Test format. Read ICC 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup: Bangladesh’s Squad, Full Fixtures Aftermath Former South African captain AB de Villiers, Proteas pacer Dale Steyn, and Sri Lankan fast-medium bowler Lasith Malinga were among the top cricketers of the previous decade. Their contributions as players will live on in the minds of coming generations. Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan and the Dutch all-rounder Ryan ten Doeschate, both enjoyed significant success with their respective national teams. Many young cricketers look up to these athletes as role models since they were key figures in their respective teams throughout their playing days.    

One of the best white-ball bowlers of all time, Lasith Malinga had numerous memorable moments during his playing career that fans would remember for the rest of their lives. Malinga declared his retirement from both ODI cricket after the ICC World Cup 2019. However, he preferred to play T20 cricket for a few more years. Malinga last played for Sri Lanka against the Windies in March 2020, and he announced his retirement from franchise cricket in January 2021. Finally, he declared his retirement from all forms of cricket in September 2021. Let’s take a look at Lasith Malinga's illustrious career.       Lasith Malinga’s Background Malinga was born on August 28, 1983, at Rathgama, Galle in Sri Lanka. He grew up in humble circumstances. In his boyhood, he used to play cricket with friends on the sand banks beside a river. While attending Vidyaloka College in Galle, Malinga began his cricket career. Former Sri Lankan paceman Champaka Ramanayake found Malinga there. He extended an invitation to him to join the Galle Cricket Club. Read:All-rounder Nasir eyes a national team comeback Champaka Ramanayake had a huge impact in his initial cricket career. He aided him in his development as a bowler and fostered him during his early years. At a Glance: Lasith Malinga's Cricket Career Lasith Malinga is considered one of the best fast bowlers in cricket history. He is known as 'Slinga Malinga.' for his unique round-arm action. Lasith Malinga made his international debut in Test cricket against Australia in 2004 and impressed the great Australian team by bagging six wickets in the match. Malinga made his ODI debut against the UAE in the 2004 Asia Cup, and he played his maiden T20I against England in 2006. Read:Aich Mollah's century guide Bangladesh to clinch Youth ODI series beating Afghanistan by 121 runs Despite an impressive start, Lasith Malinga retired from Test cricket in 2011 to focus on his limited-overs career. Malinga has 101 wickets in 30 Tests at an average of 33.15 before declaring his Test retirement. His best Test bowling figure was 5/50. Lasith Malinga competed in 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019 ICC ODI World Cup, finishing runner-up in the 2007 and 2011 editions. The 2014 T20 World Cup was Malinga's most successful tournament for Sri Lanka. He was named captain only before the competition because Dinesh Chandimal was suspended. Sri Lanka won a World Cup for the first time since the 1996 World Cup, thanks to Malinga's leadership. Read England Clinch Series Against Sri Lanka; Windies Stun South Africa in the First T20I Malinga later captained Sri Lanka in a number of series and tournaments, though without much success. The right-arm pacer was named to the ICC's team of the tournament several times. He also shared the most international hat-tricks with Pakistan's Wasim Akram. Lasith Malinga was plagued by injuries throughout his career. He had to miss numerous international matches due to a knee injury. Lasith Malinga was a popular player among the franchises in T20 leagues around the world. He regularly featured in IPL, BBL, CPL, and BPL. He now holds the record for most wickets (170) in the Indian Premier League and the best bowling figure (6/7) in the Big Bash League. Lasith Malinga’s International Career Test Match Wkts BBI Ave Econ SR 5W 30 101 5/50 33.15 3.85 51.50 3 ODI 226 338 6/38 28.87 5.35 32.30 8 T20I 84 107 5/6 20.79 7.42 16.80 2 Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Read: Pakistan to tour Bangladesh later this year for three T20Is, two Tests Notable Cricket Record of Lasith Malinga Lasith Malinga broke several records and set up new records particularly in white ball during his almost two decades of professional cricket career. Here are some of the notable cricket records by the coveted right-arm medium pacer. Stats in Numbers 3. The first and only bowler in One-Day International cricket history to take three hat-tricks. 4. Lasith Malinga is the only bowler to capture four-wickets in a succession in international cricket. 6. Malinga's best T20 bowling figures (6/7) came against Perth Scorchers for Melbourne Stars in the 2012-13 Big Bash League. This is also the best bowling figure in the history of the Big Bash. 15. He holds the record for most four-wicket hauls (15) in T20s. 100. The first bowler to take 100 wickets in all three formats of international cricket. 107. Lasith Malinga finishes the Men's Twenty20 Internationals as the highest wicket-taker with 107 wickets. 152. Malinga has the most 'bowled' wickets of any player in the T20s, with 152. 170. Lasith Malinga has the most wickets in the Indian Premier League (170). Read:ICC T20 World Cup 2021: Bangladesh Team needs to improve three things before the tournament starts Bottom Line Lasith Malinga was an exceptional cricketer. Three things come to mind when fans think about Malinga; his curly hair, unorthodox bowling action, and unplayable yorker. The batters were always under pressure because of his unique bowling action. They were prone to making mistakes under pressure due to his incredible accuracy with the yorker. So, it's clear to understand how destructive he was. Lasith Malinga is arguably the greatest T20 bowler of all time and one of the top three finest bowlers in Sri Lankan cricket history. Malinga deserves praise for his contribution to cricket.

Colombo, Oct 17 (AP/UNB) — Lasith Malinga will return to lead Sri Lanka in a three-match Twenty20 cricket series against Australia but many players from the young team that performed well on the tour of Pakistan have retained their places.

Sri Lanka, Sept 02 (AP/UNB) — Sri Lanka pacer Lasith Malinga became the outright highest wicket-taker in Twenty20 internationals as his team lost to New Zealand by five wickets in their series opener on Sunday.