As a player a player in any sports, one would always want to play the game they love long for his team or country, same is the case here in cricket. Players want to contribute to the team through their game as much as possible for their team.
It is easy to play for a team, but it is not so easy to make a permanent place in the team. It all depends on how fit you are and how consistently good cricket you are playing for the team. If the player is not getting injured much and is consistently contributing to the success of the team, then that player’s career can be prolonged.
There are many players in the game of cricket who have played cricket for their team for many decades and have been an integral part of the team during their career.
Keeping this in mind, today we are going to discuss about three such players who have played cricket for their country for more than four decades in international cricket.
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik, who made his debut for Pakistan in 1999, has played international cricket for Pakistan for more than 20 years. He achieved the record of playing in four different decades when he took onto the pitch for the T20 match against Bangladesh on 24 January 2020. Malik has played cricket for Pakistan in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and now in the 2020s, becoming the first player from Pakistan to do so.
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar, who played international cricket for 24 years, played his first match for India in 1989 and said goodbye to cricket after exactly 24 years in 2013. During his cricket career that spanned from 1980s to 2010s, Sachin Tendulkar set some of the greatest cricket records and became one of the world’s best batsmen in world cricket.
During this, Tendulkar played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs for India and scored 15921 runs in Test cricket at an average of 53.78, 18,426 runs in ODIs at an average of 44.83. During this, he also scored 51 centuries in Tests and 49 centuries in ODI cricket.
Sanath Jayasuriya
One of the finest batsmen of his time, Sanath Jayasuriya played cricket for Sri Lanka from 1989 to 2011. Like Sachin Tendulkar, he also played international cricket for Sri Lanka for four decades. Due to his all-round performance, Jayasuriya was a part of the Sri Lanka team continuously and during this time he played 110 Tests and 445 ODIs.
