Cricket Players Who Retired In 2025, Along With Ro-Ko

The year 2025 has witnessed a significant changing of the guard in the world of international cricket, as several prominent figures and stalwarts of the game have announced their retirement across various formats. These departures mark the end of illustrious careers, leaving voids that will be challenging to fill but also opening doors for the next generation of cricketing talent.

Perhaps the most significant announcements came from the Indian camp, with two of the modern era’s greatest batsmen, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, stepping away from Test cricket. Rohit, known for his elegant strokeplay and astute captaincy, called time on his Test career in early May 2025. Having already retired from T20 internationals in 2024 after leading India to T20 World Cup glory, his decision to focus on the limited-overs formats signals a clear intention to extend his career in white-ball cricket while allowing new leadership to emerge in the longest format.

Just days later, Virat Kohli, widely regarded as one of the most dominant batsmen of his generation across all formats, followed suit, announcing his retirement from Test cricket via social media. Kohli’s fiery competitiveness, record-breaking consistency, and transformative leadership defined an era for Indian Test cricket, and his absence will undoubtedly be felt. Both players leave behind incredible Test legacies, with Rohit accumulating thousands of runs as an opener and Kohli amassing over 9,000 runs and numerous centuries.

The retirement wave also swept through other cricketing nations. From New Zealand, veteran opener Martin Guptill announced his retirement from all formats of the game in January 2025. A destructive force at the top of the order in white-ball cricket, Guptill was New Zealand’s highest run-scorer in T20Is and third-highest in ODIs, holding the distinction of being the only New Zealander to score an ODI double hundred — a blistering 237* against West Indies in the 2015 World Cup.

Australia also saw some big names scale back their international commitments. All-rounder Glenn Maxwell announced his retirement from One-Day Internationals to manage his workload and focus on T20Is. Similarly, Steve Smith decided to retire from ODI cricket after Australia’s exit from the Champions Trophy 2025 semi-finals. He will continue to feature in Tests and T20Is. Marcus Stoinis, another Australian all-rounder, also opted out of ODI cricket, prioritising T20Is for his national team.

From South Africa, power-hitter Heinrich Klaasen made a surprising announcement, retiring from all forms of international cricket at just 33 years old. Klaasen cited a desire to prioritize franchise commitments and spend more time with his family, a growing trend among modern cricketers. His explosive batting in the middle order will be missed by the Proteas.

The subcontinent also witnessed some notable farewells. Bangladesh’s influential left-handed opener Tamim Iqbal announced his retirement from all formats for the second time, having previously unretired. A stalwart of Bangladesh cricket, Tamim leaves as his country’s second-highest run-getter in international cricket. Fellow Bangladeshi cricketer Mushfiqur Rahim also retired from ODIs, having already stepped away from T20Is.

Sri Lanka’s dependable Test opener Dimuth Karunaratne announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. Angelo Mathews also announced that after the Galle test match against Bangladesh, he would retire from tests.

Other significant retirements in 2025 include India’s veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha from all formats, pace-bowling all-rounder Rishi Dhawan from Indian white-ball cricket, and express pacer Varun Aaron from first-class cricket. Afghanistan’s left-arm quick Shapoor Zadran also called time on his international career.

The collective departure of these seasoned campaigners signals a new chapter for their respective teams. While fans will undoubtedly miss their presence at the upcoming cricket matches but these legendary players’ retirements create opportunities for emerging talent to step up and forge their legacies, ensuring the continuous evolution of the beautiful game of cricket.