Retirement of legendary cricketers without a farewell match has become a tradition in India for quite some time now. The latest name added to this list is Cheteshwar Pujara. Legends like Dhoni, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Pujara were given farewell on the field in front of stadiums full of spectators and fans...

Retirement of legendary players from international cricket without a farewell on the field has become a tradition in India for quite some time now. The latest name added to this list is Cheteshwar Pujara. He retired from every format of cricket on Sunday. In this way, he joined the unfortunate list of cricketers like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh who did not get a chance to say goodbye to cricket in front of a crowd of spectators and fans in the stadium. These players definitely deserved a respectable farewell.

Cheteshwar Pujara was a specialist batsman in Tests. His commitment to play for Team India was such that he preferred international matches over IPL amidst the glitz of money. He could be called a confluence of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman in Tests, who were known as 'The Wall' and 'Very Very Special Laxman' respectively. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has also said that Pujara should have got a chance to say goodbye to his favorite game from the playing field.

Fans were stunned when Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of India's best captains in all three formats, announced his retirement from international cricket through a social media post 5 years ago in August 2020. He played his last international match against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup.

Yuvraj Singh, the hero of the 2011 World Cup victory, even demanded a farewell match for himself in 2019, but the BCCI rejected his offer. After being constantly ignored in team selection, he finally announced his retirement.

Destructive opener Virender Sehwag played his last international match in 2013. He waited for 2 years to get a chance to say goodbye to cricket on the ground but he did not get a chance for a respectable farewell. VVS Laxman, known as Very Very Special and the biggest troubleshooter of the Indian team in Tests in his time, had to announce his retirement a few days before the home series in 2012. R Ashwin, one of the best spinners in the world in Tests, announced his retirement in the middle of the Australia tour last year because he was bored of constantly being benched on foreign tours.

Many other players like Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir also quietly said goodbye to cricket after their constant neglect in team selection.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also did not get a chance to bid farewell on the ground in Tests. However, both of them have not yet said goodbye to ODI cricket.