Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai farewell: April 5, 1974 -Port of Spain Vs England
Scores in the final Test: Sobers 0 & 20. Kanhai 2 & 7
Gary Sober's last Test turned out to be a damp squib as he fell for a duck in the first innings and scored 20 in the second as Tony Greig’s 13-wicket haul sunk West Indies; however, he returned figures of one for 44 and two for 36 in the Test, which sort of made up for his poor performance with the bat.
Leading West Indies in the same Test Kanhai scored two and seven. England successfully defended a target of 226 and squared the series 1-1.
Ian Chappell(Australia) farewell: February 6, 1980 -MCG Vs
Scores in final Test: 75 and 26 not out
Ian Chappell walked out in the last Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with the score on 52 for one and carved out a 151-ball 75 with six boundaries; Greg Chappel scored a hundred and Australia managed a 171-run lead. Then, set 103 for two Australia lost two early wickets, but the Chappell brothers saw them home. Ian, with a 62-ball 26 not out, played the foil to Greg, who finished off the Test in emphatic fashion
Geoff Boycott(England) farewell: January 6, 1982 -Delhi Vs India
Scores in final Test: 18 and 6
Geoff Boycott finished as the leading run-scorer, going past Gary Sobers’ tally in his penultimate Test at Delhi
During the Test, however, Boycott reported a stomach bug and opted not to field, but it was later discovered that he was busy playing golf at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. He was immediately sent back home, and a rebel tour brought an early end to his career
Geoff Boycott played 108 Tests for England and scored 8,114 runs at an average of 47.72. He also scored 22 centuries and 42 half-centuries with a highest of 246 not out
Gundappa Viswanath(India) farewell: February 4, 1983 -Karachi Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 10
‘Vishy’ had a rather unceremonious end to his Test career following the ill-fated tour of Pakistan in 1982-83. Tormented by Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz throughout the series he fell leg-before to Mudassar Nazar in the first innings at Karachi and did not get a bat in the second
Greg Chappell(Australia) farewell: January 6, 1984 -SCG Vs Pakistan
Score in final Test: 182
Greg Chappell had scored 108 on his Test debut; he ended his career with 182. Australia were 1-0 up going into the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), and after Pakistan scored 278 he was at his regal best, scoring 182 in 400 balls, taking the Test out of Pakistan’s hands. Australia won by ten wickets and clinched the series 2-0
Clive Lloyd(West Indies) farewell: January 2, 1985 -SCG Vs Australia
Scores in final Test: 33 and 72
Clive Lloyd's career — rather anti-climactically — ended in a dead-rubber defeat at SCG (West Indies clinched the series 3-1). After Australia amassed 431 Bob Holland bowled out the tourists for 163, including the wicket of Lloyd just as he was looking menacing for a 55-ball 33 with three fours and a six.
Allan Border enforced the follow-on, and Holland played spoilsport again; the tourists were routed for 253 and lost by an innings. Lloyd was at his aggressive best again, top-scoring with a 133-ball 72 with nine fours and a six. A 25,000-strong crowd gave him a standing ovation as he quit the arena for the last time
Zaheer Abbas(Pakistan) farewell: October 31, 1985 - Sialkot Vs Sri Lanka
Score in final Test: 4
The only Asian to score a hundred First-Class hundreds Zaheer Abbas’ career faded out with age as he ran into a string of low scores. In the second Test of the 1985-86 season at Sialkot Zaheer failed again, following leg-before to Ravi Ratnayeke for four. With Pakistan winning by eight wickets he did not get a chance to bat. He was dropped for the final Test at Karachi and was never recalled
Sunil Gavaskar(India) farewell: March 17, 1987 -Bangalore Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 21 and 96
India managed a lead of 29 in the first innings (‘Sunny’ got them off to a decent start with a 73-ball 21: it was possibly worth a hundred, given that the sides had scored 116 and 145).
Pakistan turned things around in the second innings and set India an almost impossible target of 221 on a pitch where the ball was turning almost at right-angles and were bouncing almost perpendicularly. The task looked daunting against Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed, but Sunil Gavaskar seemd up to it.
He eventually became eighth out with 180 on the board, caught rather controversially in the slips by Rizwan-uz-Zaman off Qasim; the innings — his last at the highest level — will probably go down as the finest against spin since they stopped making those unplayable ‘stickies’
At the time of Sunil Gavaskar's retirement, he held the records for both the highest runs and centuries in Test cricket
Gordon Greenidge(West Indies) farewell: May 1, 1991 - St John’s Vs Australia
Scores in final Test: 6 and 43
Gordon Greenidge's last day of cricket was on his 40th birthday, and just like Lloyd it came in a dead-rubber defeat at St John’s. Australia scored 403 before bowling out the hosts for 218; Greenidge was trapped leg-before by Craig McDermott for six, who, in unison with Merv Hughes, had reduced West Indies to 46 for four.
Set 455 for a victory Greenidge had his customary opening stand with Desmond Haynes, adding 76 for the first wicket. However, after both openers were run out (Greenidge for a 73-ball 43 with six fours and a six) West Indies never recovered and were bowled out for 297
Viv Richards(West Indies) farewell: August 12, 1991 -The Oval Vs England
Scores in final Test: 2 and 60
West Indies only needed to draw the last Test at The Oval to win the Wisden Trophy, but things started looking bad after the hosts piled up 409
Viv Richards coming out at 161 for six he was caught behind off ‘Tuffers’ for a brace; from 158 for three the champions were bowled out for 176.
They did a lot better following on: walking out amidst a standing ovation at 208 for four Richards tore into the England bowling the way he had for years; the controlled aggression continued for 105 balls and included nine boundaries; he scored 60 in a partnership of 97 with Richie Richardson; however, England won the Test and squared the series
David Gower(England) farewell: August 9, 1992 -The Oval Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 27 and 1
Despite having scored three hundreds in the past 12 months twelve David Gower was not at his best in the 1991 home series against Pakistan. Despite that he was a tough man to get out, but it all fell apart in the last Test at The Oval. He seemed to be at his fluent best in the first innings, dominating a 44-run partnership with a 54-ball 27 that included four gorgeous strokes to the fence.
However, in the second innings Gower shouldered arms to one from Waqar Younis that straightened, and Pakistan soon romped home by 10 wickets
Javed Miandad(Pakistan) farewell: December 21, 1993 -Lahore Vs Zimbabwe
Score in final Test: 31
Javed Miandad's Test average never dipped below the 50-mark, and he kept the record intact in his last Test as well. He got to bat only once in his last Test against Zimbabwe at Lahore before he was trapped leg-before by David Brain for 31. The Test ended in a draw mostly due to fog and bad light
Allan Border(Australia) farewell: March 29, 1994 - Kingsmead Vs South Africa
Scores in final Test: 17 and 42*
Allan Border end up as the highest run-scorer in Test Matches when he retired
Allan Border scored 17 in the first innings as Australia were bowled out for 269 at Kingsmead; South Africa managed a 153-run lead, and Australia had to save the Test in order to return from the shores undefeated. A rampant Michael Slater took on an equally destructive Allan Donald, but eventually the former fell with the score on 157 for four.
Enter ‘AB’ to join Mark Waugh with close to four hours of play left; the only option was to grind it out – which was Border’s comfort zone. He was happy to let ‘Junior’ do all the scoring, and when stumps were drawn he remained unvanquished on 42 not out off 166 balls, not bothering to go after a fifty
Graham Gooch farewell: February 7, 1995 - Vs England
Score in final Test: 31 and 4
Despite having an illustrious career (he is still the highest run-scorer in all forms of recorded cricket) Graham Gooch was at the receiving end of a relentless 1-3 Ashes drubbing in his final series at the end of which he bowed out with Mike Gatting. Glenn McGrath reduced England to five for two in his first over, but Gooch hung around, carving out a 72-run partnership with Graham Thorpe.
He was eventually leg-before to Mark Waugh for a characteristically dour 76-ball 31. England conceded a 107-run lead and chasing 453 they crumbled to 123. Gooch’s final innings amounted to four before he hit one back to Craig McDermott
Martin Crowe(New Zealand) farewell: November 12, 1995 -Cuttack Vs India
Scores in final Test: 15
India were 1-0 up in the series when the teams headed for the last Test at Cuttack. Incessant rain for two days ruled out the chances of any result: Crowe fell for a 28-ball 15 with a four and a six before holing out to Vinod Kambli off Narendra Hirwani.
Saeed Anwar farewell: August 31, 2001 -Multan Vs Bangladesh
Score in final Test: 101
Saeed Anwar had a few years and about a couple of thousand runs under his belt when he decided to quit cricket after his daughter’s sad demise. He was not even 33. He came back later in ODIs, but never played another Test.
Even in his last outing — in the Asian Test championship — Anwar quit midway after the first Test at Multan against Bangladesh. After Danish Kaneria skittled out the tourists for 134, Anwar toyed with the Bangladesh attack, scoring a 104-ball 101 with 17 fours and a six before — perhaps — boredom set in.
It did not help Bangladesh’s cause: for the second time in history five batsmen scored hundreds in an innings, Pakistan amassed 546 for three, and Kaneria came to the cause again, finishing with a 12-wicket haul. Bangladesh slumped to a massive defeat.
Aravinda de Silva(Sri Lanka) farewell: July 23, 2002 -Colombo Vs Bangladesh
Scores in final Test: 206
Aravinda de Silva after being out of cricket for a year he had come back for the England tour of 2002 and decided to sign off after the first Test against Bangladesh at P Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo.
To cut things short, Bangladesh scored 161 and 184; Sri Lanka reached 541 after being 56 for three. The main architect of the score being Aravinda de Silva himself with an almost impossibly destructive 234-ball 206 with 28 fours and a six. In a magnanimous gesture,Sanath Jaya suriya called on Aravinda in the dying stages of the Test: he rounded off things by having Khaled Mashud caught by Charitha Buddhika
Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)farewell: November 19, 2002 -Bulawayo Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 30 and 13
Andy Flower did not have a great last Test like many other champions of the sport. Pakistan won by 10 wickets as Flower fell for 30 and 13 in the Test at Bulawayo
Steve Waugh(Australia) farewell: January 6, 2004 -SCG Vs India
Scores in final Test: 40 and 80
The long, eventful career of ‘Tugga’ was headed for a swansong exit at SCG: however, Sourav Ganguly’s Indians were ready to play spoilsport; India declared at 705 for seven, Anil kumble picked up 8 wickets, and Ganguly did not enforce the follow-on despite being 231 runs ahead — perhaps because his only strike bowler, Kumble, was too exhausted to continue.
Steve Waugh had scored a counterattacking 72-ball 40 with six boundaries in the first innings; then, with 443 to chase in just over a day, he ordered his men to go for it (albeit some active sledging from Parthiv Patel); with Waugh and Simon Katich going for the kill and 105 runs remaining, the captain holed out to Sachin Tendulkar off Kumble for a 159-ball 80 with 15 fours. With Adam Gilchrist falling early Australia decided to play for a draw, levelling the series
Brian Lara(West Indies) farewell: December 1, 2006 -Karachi Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 0 and 49
Brian Lara bowed out of Test cricket as the highest scorer. In fact, he was in fantastic form going into the third Test at Karachi, having scored 61 and 122 (where Pakistan won) and 216 (in a draw) in his previous three innings
After Pakistan scored 304 Lara walked out after Chris Gayle was snared by Umar Gul. Two balls later Gul produced a peach that pitched on the middle-stump, moved away enough to evade the open face, and uprooted the off-stump. Pakistan made merry with the bat, setting West Indies a huge 444 for a victory.
Chris Gayle was bowled by Gul with just two runs on the board and Darren Ganga followed suit soon. But Lara was there to light up the stadium with his wand as he had always done. The strokes kept flowing, the boundaries kept coming at regular intervals, and as Lara opened up it seemed that a miracle was on the cards.
It was not to happen, though. The 92-ball 49, studded with nine fours, came to a sudden end when the short ball from Gul moved away a bit, and Lara’s punch went to Shoaib Malik for a low catch at short cover. Pakistan won the Test and the series. Four months later The Prince announced his retirement from international cricket.
Inzamam-ul-Haq(Pakistan) farewell: October 12, 2007 -Lahore Vs South Africa
Scores in final Test: 14 and 3
‘Inzy’ had announced his farewell before the Test, and when the last Test at Lahore began he required only 20 runs to go past Miandad’s Pakistan record of 8,832 Test runs. Even after Jacques Kallis got him out caught-behind for a rather dodgy 14 in the first innings it seemed he would get there.
Kallis bowled a yorker to Inzamam-ul-Haq first ball in his second innings, and the great man was quick to respond, on-driving him for an easy three. Then, in an onslaught where he wanted to clear the ground with a horrendous stroke (it was only the second ball he faced, mind you) he never reached the pitch of Paul Harris’ delivery and was stumped by the proverbial mile
Sourav Ganguly(India)farewell:Nov 6-10, 2008 -4th Test Match in Nagpur Vs Australia
Scores in final Test:85 and 0
India scored 441 and 295
Australia scored 355 and 209
India won by 172 Runs
India won the series 2-0
Rahul Dravid(India) and VVS Laxman (India)farewell: January 28, 2012 - Adelaide Vs Australia
Scores in final Test: Dravid 1 and 25, Laxman 18 and 35
Australia declared at 604 for seven; Dravid was bowled for one but hung on for 71 balls for 25 in the fourth innings; Laxman, on the other hand, finished with 18 in the first innings — and just when it seemed it would be one last hurrah for him against his preferred opponents — Nathan Lyon claimed his scalp for 35.Both Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had a wretched run in the 2011-12 series Down Under; Dravid fared the worst of the two, being bowled in six innings out of the eight he batted in the series.
Soon afterwards the tour Dravid announced his retirement; a few months later, just before the New Zealand series at home, Laxman announced his retirement
Ricky Ponting(Australia) farewell: December 3, 2012 -Perth Vs South Africa
Scores in final Test: 4 and 8
Australians typically do not retain ex-captains in their Test sides but they made an exception for ‘Punter’, partly because of his distinguished career and partly because the Australians did not have a replacement to match his experience. His career reached a steep slide as 2012 proceeded.
The series was levelled 0-0 when the teams reached WACA for the last Test; Ricky Pontingscored four in the first innings and despite the guard of honour by Graeme Smith and his men, he failed again, doubling his first-innings score. To make things worse, South Africa won the Test by a whopping 306 runs and took the series.
Scores in the final Test: Sobers 0 & 20. Kanhai 2 & 7
Gary Sober's last Test turned out to be a damp squib as he fell for a duck in the first innings and scored 20 in the second as Tony Greig’s 13-wicket haul sunk West Indies; however, he returned figures of one for 44 and two for 36 in the Test, which sort of made up for his poor performance with the bat.
Leading West Indies in the same Test Kanhai scored two and seven. England successfully defended a target of 226 and squared the series 1-1.
Ian Chappell(Australia) farewell: February 6, 1980 -MCG Vs
Scores in final Test: 75 and 26 not out
Ian Chappell walked out in the last Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with the score on 52 for one and carved out a 151-ball 75 with six boundaries; Greg Chappel scored a hundred and Australia managed a 171-run lead. Then, set 103 for two Australia lost two early wickets, but the Chappell brothers saw them home. Ian, with a 62-ball 26 not out, played the foil to Greg, who finished off the Test in emphatic fashion
Geoff Boycott(England) farewell: January 6, 1982 -Delhi Vs India
Scores in final Test: 18 and 6
Geoff Boycott finished as the leading run-scorer, going past Gary Sobers’ tally in his penultimate Test at Delhi
During the Test, however, Boycott reported a stomach bug and opted not to field, but it was later discovered that he was busy playing golf at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. He was immediately sent back home, and a rebel tour brought an early end to his career
Geoff Boycott played 108 Tests for England and scored 8,114 runs at an average of 47.72. He also scored 22 centuries and 42 half-centuries with a highest of 246 not out
Gundappa Viswanath(India) farewell: February 4, 1983 -Karachi Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 10
‘Vishy’ had a rather unceremonious end to his Test career following the ill-fated tour of Pakistan in 1982-83. Tormented by Imran Khan and Sarfraz Nawaz throughout the series he fell leg-before to Mudassar Nazar in the first innings at Karachi and did not get a bat in the second
Greg Chappell(Australia) farewell: January 6, 1984 -SCG Vs Pakistan
Score in final Test: 182
Greg Chappell had scored 108 on his Test debut; he ended his career with 182. Australia were 1-0 up going into the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), and after Pakistan scored 278 he was at his regal best, scoring 182 in 400 balls, taking the Test out of Pakistan’s hands. Australia won by ten wickets and clinched the series 2-0
Clive Lloyd(West Indies) farewell: January 2, 1985 -SCG Vs Australia
Scores in final Test: 33 and 72
Clive Lloyd's career — rather anti-climactically — ended in a dead-rubber defeat at SCG (West Indies clinched the series 3-1). After Australia amassed 431 Bob Holland bowled out the tourists for 163, including the wicket of Lloyd just as he was looking menacing for a 55-ball 33 with three fours and a six.
Allan Border enforced the follow-on, and Holland played spoilsport again; the tourists were routed for 253 and lost by an innings. Lloyd was at his aggressive best again, top-scoring with a 133-ball 72 with nine fours and a six. A 25,000-strong crowd gave him a standing ovation as he quit the arena for the last time
Zaheer Abbas(Pakistan) farewell: October 31, 1985 - Sialkot Vs Sri Lanka
Score in final Test: 4
The only Asian to score a hundred First-Class hundreds Zaheer Abbas’ career faded out with age as he ran into a string of low scores. In the second Test of the 1985-86 season at Sialkot Zaheer failed again, following leg-before to Ravi Ratnayeke for four. With Pakistan winning by eight wickets he did not get a chance to bat. He was dropped for the final Test at Karachi and was never recalled
Sunil Gavaskar(India) farewell: March 17, 1987 -Bangalore Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 21 and 96
India managed a lead of 29 in the first innings (‘Sunny’ got them off to a decent start with a 73-ball 21: it was possibly worth a hundred, given that the sides had scored 116 and 145).
Pakistan turned things around in the second innings and set India an almost impossible target of 221 on a pitch where the ball was turning almost at right-angles and were bouncing almost perpendicularly. The task looked daunting against Iqbal Qasim and Tauseef Ahmed, but Sunil Gavaskar seemd up to it.
He eventually became eighth out with 180 on the board, caught rather controversially in the slips by Rizwan-uz-Zaman off Qasim; the innings — his last at the highest level — will probably go down as the finest against spin since they stopped making those unplayable ‘stickies’
At the time of Sunil Gavaskar's retirement, he held the records for both the highest runs and centuries in Test cricket
Gordon Greenidge(West Indies) farewell: May 1, 1991 - St John’s Vs Australia
Scores in final Test: 6 and 43
Gordon Greenidge's last day of cricket was on his 40th birthday, and just like Lloyd it came in a dead-rubber defeat at St John’s. Australia scored 403 before bowling out the hosts for 218; Greenidge was trapped leg-before by Craig McDermott for six, who, in unison with Merv Hughes, had reduced West Indies to 46 for four.
Set 455 for a victory Greenidge had his customary opening stand with Desmond Haynes, adding 76 for the first wicket. However, after both openers were run out (Greenidge for a 73-ball 43 with six fours and a six) West Indies never recovered and were bowled out for 297
Viv Richards(West Indies) farewell: August 12, 1991 -The Oval Vs England
Scores in final Test: 2 and 60
West Indies only needed to draw the last Test at The Oval to win the Wisden Trophy, but things started looking bad after the hosts piled up 409
Viv Richards coming out at 161 for six he was caught behind off ‘Tuffers’ for a brace; from 158 for three the champions were bowled out for 176.
They did a lot better following on: walking out amidst a standing ovation at 208 for four Richards tore into the England bowling the way he had for years; the controlled aggression continued for 105 balls and included nine boundaries; he scored 60 in a partnership of 97 with Richie Richardson; however, England won the Test and squared the series
David Gower(England) farewell: August 9, 1992 -The Oval Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 27 and 1
Despite having scored three hundreds in the past 12 months twelve David Gower was not at his best in the 1991 home series against Pakistan. Despite that he was a tough man to get out, but it all fell apart in the last Test at The Oval. He seemed to be at his fluent best in the first innings, dominating a 44-run partnership with a 54-ball 27 that included four gorgeous strokes to the fence.
However, in the second innings Gower shouldered arms to one from Waqar Younis that straightened, and Pakistan soon romped home by 10 wickets
Javed Miandad(Pakistan) farewell: December 21, 1993 -Lahore Vs Zimbabwe
Score in final Test: 31
Javed Miandad's Test average never dipped below the 50-mark, and he kept the record intact in his last Test as well. He got to bat only once in his last Test against Zimbabwe at Lahore before he was trapped leg-before by David Brain for 31. The Test ended in a draw mostly due to fog and bad light
Allan Border(Australia) farewell: March 29, 1994 - Kingsmead Vs South Africa
Scores in final Test: 17 and 42*
Allan Border end up as the highest run-scorer in Test Matches when he retired
Allan Border scored 17 in the first innings as Australia were bowled out for 269 at Kingsmead; South Africa managed a 153-run lead, and Australia had to save the Test in order to return from the shores undefeated. A rampant Michael Slater took on an equally destructive Allan Donald, but eventually the former fell with the score on 157 for four.
Enter ‘AB’ to join Mark Waugh with close to four hours of play left; the only option was to grind it out – which was Border’s comfort zone. He was happy to let ‘Junior’ do all the scoring, and when stumps were drawn he remained unvanquished on 42 not out off 166 balls, not bothering to go after a fifty
Graham Gooch farewell: February 7, 1995 - Vs England
Score in final Test: 31 and 4
Despite having an illustrious career (he is still the highest run-scorer in all forms of recorded cricket) Graham Gooch was at the receiving end of a relentless 1-3 Ashes drubbing in his final series at the end of which he bowed out with Mike Gatting. Glenn McGrath reduced England to five for two in his first over, but Gooch hung around, carving out a 72-run partnership with Graham Thorpe.
He was eventually leg-before to Mark Waugh for a characteristically dour 76-ball 31. England conceded a 107-run lead and chasing 453 they crumbled to 123. Gooch’s final innings amounted to four before he hit one back to Craig McDermott
Martin Crowe(New Zealand) farewell: November 12, 1995 -Cuttack Vs India
Scores in final Test: 15
India were 1-0 up in the series when the teams headed for the last Test at Cuttack. Incessant rain for two days ruled out the chances of any result: Crowe fell for a 28-ball 15 with a four and a six before holing out to Vinod Kambli off Narendra Hirwani.
Saeed Anwar farewell: August 31, 2001 -Multan Vs Bangladesh
Score in final Test: 101
Saeed Anwar had a few years and about a couple of thousand runs under his belt when he decided to quit cricket after his daughter’s sad demise. He was not even 33. He came back later in ODIs, but never played another Test.
Even in his last outing — in the Asian Test championship — Anwar quit midway after the first Test at Multan against Bangladesh. After Danish Kaneria skittled out the tourists for 134, Anwar toyed with the Bangladesh attack, scoring a 104-ball 101 with 17 fours and a six before — perhaps — boredom set in.
It did not help Bangladesh’s cause: for the second time in history five batsmen scored hundreds in an innings, Pakistan amassed 546 for three, and Kaneria came to the cause again, finishing with a 12-wicket haul. Bangladesh slumped to a massive defeat.
Aravinda de Silva(Sri Lanka) farewell: July 23, 2002 -Colombo Vs Bangladesh
Scores in final Test: 206
Aravinda de Silva after being out of cricket for a year he had come back for the England tour of 2002 and decided to sign off after the first Test against Bangladesh at P Saravanamuttu Stadium, Colombo.
To cut things short, Bangladesh scored 161 and 184; Sri Lanka reached 541 after being 56 for three. The main architect of the score being Aravinda de Silva himself with an almost impossibly destructive 234-ball 206 with 28 fours and a six. In a magnanimous gesture,Sanath Jaya suriya called on Aravinda in the dying stages of the Test: he rounded off things by having Khaled Mashud caught by Charitha Buddhika
Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)farewell: November 19, 2002 -Bulawayo Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 30 and 13
Andy Flower did not have a great last Test like many other champions of the sport. Pakistan won by 10 wickets as Flower fell for 30 and 13 in the Test at Bulawayo
Steve Waugh(Australia) farewell: January 6, 2004 -SCG Vs India
Scores in final Test: 40 and 80
The long, eventful career of ‘Tugga’ was headed for a swansong exit at SCG: however, Sourav Ganguly’s Indians were ready to play spoilsport; India declared at 705 for seven, Anil kumble picked up 8 wickets, and Ganguly did not enforce the follow-on despite being 231 runs ahead — perhaps because his only strike bowler, Kumble, was too exhausted to continue.
Steve Waugh had scored a counterattacking 72-ball 40 with six boundaries in the first innings; then, with 443 to chase in just over a day, he ordered his men to go for it (albeit some active sledging from Parthiv Patel); with Waugh and Simon Katich going for the kill and 105 runs remaining, the captain holed out to Sachin Tendulkar off Kumble for a 159-ball 80 with 15 fours. With Adam Gilchrist falling early Australia decided to play for a draw, levelling the series
Brian Lara(West Indies) farewell: December 1, 2006 -Karachi Vs Pakistan
Scores in final Test: 0 and 49
Brian Lara bowed out of Test cricket as the highest scorer. In fact, he was in fantastic form going into the third Test at Karachi, having scored 61 and 122 (where Pakistan won) and 216 (in a draw) in his previous three innings
After Pakistan scored 304 Lara walked out after Chris Gayle was snared by Umar Gul. Two balls later Gul produced a peach that pitched on the middle-stump, moved away enough to evade the open face, and uprooted the off-stump. Pakistan made merry with the bat, setting West Indies a huge 444 for a victory.
Chris Gayle was bowled by Gul with just two runs on the board and Darren Ganga followed suit soon. But Lara was there to light up the stadium with his wand as he had always done. The strokes kept flowing, the boundaries kept coming at regular intervals, and as Lara opened up it seemed that a miracle was on the cards.
It was not to happen, though. The 92-ball 49, studded with nine fours, came to a sudden end when the short ball from Gul moved away a bit, and Lara’s punch went to Shoaib Malik for a low catch at short cover. Pakistan won the Test and the series. Four months later The Prince announced his retirement from international cricket.
Inzamam-ul-Haq(Pakistan) farewell: October 12, 2007 -Lahore Vs South Africa
Scores in final Test: 14 and 3
‘Inzy’ had announced his farewell before the Test, and when the last Test at Lahore began he required only 20 runs to go past Miandad’s Pakistan record of 8,832 Test runs. Even after Jacques Kallis got him out caught-behind for a rather dodgy 14 in the first innings it seemed he would get there.
Kallis bowled a yorker to Inzamam-ul-Haq first ball in his second innings, and the great man was quick to respond, on-driving him for an easy three. Then, in an onslaught where he wanted to clear the ground with a horrendous stroke (it was only the second ball he faced, mind you) he never reached the pitch of Paul Harris’ delivery and was stumped by the proverbial mile
Sourav Ganguly(India)farewell:Nov 6-10, 2008 -4th Test Match in Nagpur Vs Australia
Scores in final Test:85 and 0
Australia scored 355 and 209
India won by 172 Runs
India won the series 2-0
Rahul Dravid(India) and VVS Laxman (India)farewell: January 28, 2012 - Adelaide Vs Australia
Scores in final Test: Dravid 1 and 25, Laxman 18 and 35
Australia declared at 604 for seven; Dravid was bowled for one but hung on for 71 balls for 25 in the fourth innings; Laxman, on the other hand, finished with 18 in the first innings — and just when it seemed it would be one last hurrah for him against his preferred opponents — Nathan Lyon claimed his scalp for 35.Both Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman had a wretched run in the 2011-12 series Down Under; Dravid fared the worst of the two, being bowled in six innings out of the eight he batted in the series.
Soon afterwards the tour Dravid announced his retirement; a few months later, just before the New Zealand series at home, Laxman announced his retirement
Ricky Ponting(Australia) farewell: December 3, 2012 -Perth Vs South Africa
Scores in final Test: 4 and 8
Australians typically do not retain ex-captains in their Test sides but they made an exception for ‘Punter’, partly because of his distinguished career and partly because the Australians did not have a replacement to match his experience. His career reached a steep slide as 2012 proceeded.
The series was levelled 0-0 when the teams reached WACA for the last Test; Ricky Pontingscored four in the first innings and despite the guard of honour by Graeme Smith and his men, he failed again, doubling his first-innings score. To make things worse, South Africa won the Test by a whopping 306 runs and took the series.
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