Makhaya Ntini Retires From International Cricket

Makhaya Ntini has finally decided to end his 13 years long international cricketing career with South Africa. The cricketing world is surely going to miss the services of this inspirational fast bowler, who in his prime days would rip apart any kind of opposition batting, even on the slower tracks.

He announced his retirement from international cricket at Johannesburg this Tuesday. It was a very emotional Makhaya who announced his retirement to the world. His thoughts reflected back to the beginning days of his international cricketing career, when he became the first black cricketer to ever play in the South African international team.

On the eve of defeating Pakistan very narrowly by 2 runs, Captain Graeme Smith was all praises for his retiring ace bowler, who he believes has carved a legacy for himself, which the upcoming players could aspire to. He expressed his gratitude for having played besides Makhaya whom he felt was a great servant to cricket SA, and he wished him grand success in his career after retiring from international cricket.

South African Cricket board has decided that they would not let him retire off the field, and they plan to give him a befitting farewell at Durban on 9^th of January 2011. He would be allowed to make his final international appearance during the T20 international which is scheduled to be played against India at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

According to Graeme Smith, Makhaya is undoubtedly one of the fittest players he knows, and his intensity and energy always brought exuberance and laughter to his teammates. He expressed his joy of being in a position to be able to call on Makhaya whenever the team needed a genuine fast bowler.

In his successful international career, Makhaya has capped in 101 test matches claiming 390 wickets, and in his ODI career of 173 matches, he has claimed 266 victims.

He has always been a fit cricketer throughout his career, and injuries have never been major concerns in his long career as a genuine fast bowler. He used to come out there and bowl his heart out each and every time.

He said that he would be carrying a lot of sweet unforgettable memories with him, and he would continue playing domestic cricket as long as he is able to do so.

One thing which the fans are going to remember about this amazing bowler is his infectious wide grin that never failed to bring out the laughter from his teammates and even from his opponents at times.

This is in sharp contrast to his focused bowling that used to zip past the batsmen’s ears, leaving even the best batsmen uncertain at the batting crease. He was one of those enthusiastic cricketers who used to run back for the bowling run-ups even before the batsman were ready. His shoulders never drooped even when the things were not going well for his team. Along with Shaun Pollock they formed a lethal bowling pair.

Although he was seen on the bench for most of the games in the IPL season 3, his very presence used to lift the morale of his teammates, who later went on to conquer the trophy.

We would like to thank Makhaya for providing us with some of those most special moments in all forms of international cricket, and we would like to wish a lot of success in his career after his retirement from the international cricketing scenario.