- June 17, 2025
You can tell something is wrong when retirement announcements from world-class players barely register. Nicholas Pooran’s and Heinrich Klaasen’s retirement from international cricket should have hit fans hard. But, did it? The loud clamour around the immense impact these retirements will have given the stature of these players may not come until later, when fans feel their actual absence once the cricket calendar has moved on. But while fans may not feel the impact just yet, it is foolish to dismiss how these retirements are capturing the current state of international cricket.
Beyond the Players: A Reflection of Cricket’s Changing Ecosystem
I want to be clear. Pooran and Klaasen aren’t giving up cricket. They are giving up international cricket, and that’s an important distinction. They weren’t just middle-order hitters; they were elite, freak power-machines. Pooran hit 170 T20 sixes in 2023, breaking the record previously held by Chris Gayle. Klaasen hit 105 sixes, which would make any bowler lose sleep.
But here’s the kicker: most of those runs and sixes were not made in their national colours. They were made in T20 leagues, where the money is better, the pressure is more intense, and the games mean something to someone other than the two players and a bored broadcaster.
Their retirement doesn’t say, “We’ve done with cricket.” It says, “We’re done with the meaningless bilateral grind.” And honestly? Can you blame them?
When International Cricket Doesn’t Feel International
In a way, the sad reality is that international white-ball cricket, especially when it comes to the bilateral version, has lost its sparkle. When we look at how frequently Klaasen and Pooran engage in white-ball matches, something like 80-86% of them are now entirely contextless. They weren’t World Cups, nor even significant series; they were filler. They were matches that simply floated away, like unanchored balloons — easily forgettable and hard to justify.
With the ODI Super League gone (in 2023), bilateral series are essentially just glorified practice matches, competing for space during T20 league chaos, and between IPL seasons. The idea that Klaasen would skip a home 50-over World Cup in 2027 seems significant until one realizes that that could mean torturing himself through who-the-hell-knows how many half-empty stadium ‘matches’ that meant nothing in between now and then.
Fans do not remember this one-off ODI against Ireland, nor do they remember the 3rd T20 vs Bangladesh in July. They remember World Cups and knockouts. Final matches. Tense series.
Franchise Leagues: The New International Stage?
Here’s the kicker: the leagues have officially graduated from sidekick to headline act. Pooran is going to captain MI New York in Major League Cricket. Klaasen? He will be captaining the Seattle Orcas. These leagues will create the fandom, scrutiny, and dollar value – the trifecta that international cricket once held.
I can already hear you saying: But Virat Kohli plays Test cricket! (I agree, he does, and good for him.) But remember, he plays under a massive BCCI contract and has every possible support system money can provide. You don’t get that as a player from South Africa or the West Indies. Andre Russell said it best – you can play 100 matches and be no better off when you retire. You might as well chase the money while you have a chance.
So the real question is: how many more will follow? And when that next young international power-hitter chooses a league contract over a national cap, will anyone be surprised? Because in today’s game, international cricket is no longer the pinnacle. International cricket is an option, and not always the best option. Your turn: Do you think that international cricket can somehow rebound and reclaim its former stature, or is the franchise era upon us?
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