The cricket world has been shaken up in the last five weeks by a series of high-profile retirements by superstars from various eras and formats of the sport. The Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, ended his Test career on May 7, five days before his predecessor, the legendary Virat Kohli, did the same.

Their choices weren't entirely unexpected, but when they were made official, there was a hint of the unexpected, leaving a significant void in Indian cricket. Within a few hours of one another, South African wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen announced his retirement from international white-ball cricket—he had previously quit Tests—and Glenn Maxwell bid farewell to One-Day International cricket in order to focus his attention on the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka in the beginning of the next year.

Rohit is 38, Kohli will turn 37 in November, and both played Test cricket for a long time. Rohit made his debut in November 2013, whereas Kohli received his Test cap in June 2011. At age 36, Maxwell has made 149 ODI appearances, while at 33, Klaasen has represented South Africa in 122 matches across all three formats. Particularly with Rohit, Kohli, and the physically worn-out Maxwell, you could understand their perspective. Klaasen's position was a bit of a shock, but he clarified it a few days prior when he stated, "I felt for a long time that I didn't really care about any of my performances and whether the team won or not. That's the wrong place to be. I wasn't having a great time.

Nicholas Pooran, the extraordinarily talented Trinidadian left-hander who lit up the first half of IPL 2025 with his superb ball-striking for Lucknow Super Giants, now joins Klaasen on the list of former internationals. Maxwell is still available for T20Is, while Rohit and Kohli are still available for ODIs. The fact that Pooran is just 29 years old is what makes his call surprising; since September 2016, when he first played for the West Indies, he has played in 106 Twenty20 International matches and earned 61 ODI caps.

He is the top scorer for the Caribbeans in T20Is, having scored 2,275 runs at a strike rate of 136.39. He has previously led the team and was anticipated to be one of its bulwarks going forward, at least in that format. Since July 2023, when West Indies were eliminated from the ODI World Cup qualification tournament and missed the tournament for the first time since it began in 1975, he hasn't played an ODI.

By shifting away outstanding talent from the nation versus nation scenario, Pooran's surprise transfer has caused a stir in the cricket community and strengthened the dominance of the many 20-over franchise-based leagues that are proliferating worldwide.

No one is imagining the vice-like hold that these leagues have. Assuming tournaments are strictly inspected and supervised, neither the players—whose careers are short-lived and who rely on cricket for a living—nor the competitions are to blame.

One must respect a person's decision to prioritize league play over representing their nation for a variety of reasons since the easiest thing to do is to sit on the outside and make moral judgments that frequently use the words "greedy" and "mercenary" without being directly involved or aware of the ground realities.

Particularly in the West Indies, the recent rocky relationship between the authorities and the athletes cannot be ignored. At one point, the administration was so out of touch with the players that many talented and well-known individuals left without a second thought, unhappy with the lack of support they received for their efforts in raising the profile of a once-proud cricket organization that is now in dire straits.

South Africa has had its own problems, notably in the areas of team selection and dedication to addressing the injustices of the past. Although it would be a bit of a stretch to attribute the same causes to Klaasen's choice, the exodus of South Africans to England and other regions of the world in search of their cricketing goals is well-known.

Even though it may be simpler to blame the players and their "greed," the more important issue to address is if cricket boards are doing enough to maintain the players' passion for representing their nation.

Invoking pride and patriotism is all well and good, but unless you do so in a way that isn't offensive, it won't provide you with a meal. The tale doesn't end with Pooran's departure; it might only be the tip of the iceberg, so treat it with the gravity that every awakening demands.

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