Stuart Broad retirement: Stuart Broad, one of the leading wicket-takers for England in international cricket, shocked the cricket fraternity by announcing retirement from international cricket on Saturday (July 29), bringing an end to an illustrious 17-year international career. The 37-year-old is second fast bowler and fourth overall to take over 600 wickets in Test cricket. The legendary English pacer is all set to retire as England's second highest wicket taker of all time in Tests, only behind his pace partner James Anderson. After the end of Day 3 of the ongoing ENG vs AUS Ashes Test match at the Oval, Broad announced that he would be playing the game for the last time on Sunday or Monday.
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"Tomorrow or Monday will be my last game of cricket," said Broad on Sky Sports Cricket on Saturday. “It has been a wonderful ride. A huge privilege to wear the Nottinghamshire and the England batch as much as I have. I am loving cricket as much as I ever had, it has been such a wonderful series to be a part of and I have always wanted to finish on the top. This series feels like one of the most enjoyable entertainment I've been a part of,” he said.
When age was on Broad's side, he used to play all formats and not just Test cricket. During his prime, the pacer captained his national team in 2012 and 2014 T20 World Cups. However, Broad didn't play a single fixture in world's richest T20 tournament - Indian Premier League (IPL), despite being part of Punjab Kings franchise for two years.
Broad initially had said no to IPL in 2019 as he wanted to focus on playing Test cricket for England but later he made his debut in the tournament by joining Punjab Kings, known as Kings XI Punjab back then, in 2011. He was acquired by the franchise for Rs 1.80 crore. Unfortunately, Broad suffered a side strain, ruling him out of the 2011 season. The pacer was retained by the franchise for 2012 edition but this time he couldn't come to India due to a rib injury. After that, he didn't land an IPL deal.
Joe Root (Rajasthan Royals) and Ben Stokes (Chennai Super Kings) are prominent England players who are currently part of Indian Premier League.