3 Cricketers who disappeared from international cricket at their peak

In the rich history of cricket, there have been several early bloomers who’ve got their careers off to a terrific start. These players left an early impression on the cricket world, announcing their arrival in style and rising to the limelight with their performances.

However, they failed to maintain consistency for long and eventually disappeared into oblivion far too early. These players had the potential to become legends of the game, but disappeared from the game at their peak. Here are the top three players, who disappeared from international cricket at their peak:

1. Mohammad Asif (Pakistan) 

Mohammad Asif is touted as one of the most gifted players to ever play the game, having the ability to swing the ball both ways, along with deadly seam movement. Asif bowled multiple iconic spells across countries and troubled many great batters in the world. However, his involvement in the infamous spot-fixing scandal in 2010 alongside Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt in England brought a premature downfall in his career. Asif was banned from all cricket for 5 years and ultimately never played an international game for Pakistan again.

2. Vinod Kambli (India)

Vinod Kambli grew up playing cricket with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar, and the duo rose to the limelight following a marathon partnership in school cricket. Kambli made a brilliant start to his Test career, averaging around 93 after the first ten Tests with four 100s and three 50s in his first 11 Test innings, including centuries against Sri Lanka and double hundreds against England & Zimbabwe.

Unfortunately, Kambli’s struggles against the short balls were exposed brutally after initial success, and he was soon dropped from the side, despite still averaging 54 at the time of his last Test. Kambli continued to have sporadic appearances until 2000, but couldn’t emulate early success, eventually losing his place in the team.

3. Simon Katich (Australia)

Simon Katich played just 104 matches in his international career but made a huge impact with his performances. After facing struggles early on, Katich had a legendary comeback as an opener to the Australian side in the late 2000s, averaging 50s between 2008 and 2010. This golden comeback of form included Test centuries as an opener in India, England, South Africa and New Zealand, as well as a few in Australia.

However, an Achilles Tendon injury suffered in the 2010/11 Ashes led to his central contract being cut short, possibly due to the severity of the injury combined with his age being 35. However, due to the magnificent form he was in, it was speculated that Katich never got to play following dressing-room hostilities with Michael Clarke, who was the Australian captain at the time. Katich eventually retired from First-Class cricket in 2012, and from all formats of cricket in 2014.