The one and only speed gun who represented New Zealand cricket over the past few years with his excellent bowling skills has announced his retirement. Yes, he is none other than New Zealand’s “Best fast bowler” Shane Edward Bond. This young guy has not played too many matches in his career but still he has pinned his named along with world’s leading pacers like Australian’s Brett Lee and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar. Shane Bond is compared to legendary New Zealand fast bowler ‘Sir Richard Hadlee’ and is considered to be the best fast bowler New Zealand have got after him.

Shane already announced his retirement from Test cricket in December 2009 while just after coming back from ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010; he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Shane’s fans were expecting him to play in IPL but it seems he is not interested in playing cricket any more since. This 35 year old rocket has taken this decision because of his fitness.

Shane Bond is well known for his impressive bowling average in test and ODI cricket. Shane has taken 87 wickets in just 20 test matches with an impressive average of 22.09 and 147 wickets in 82 ODI matches with an average of 20.88. He has not even played 100 ODI matches and has proved himself to be one of the best fast bowlers. Shane Bond was also the most costly player in Indian Premier League when Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for US$750,000.

Shane has been struggling with many injuries and many surgeries. Fitness is a key point for a fast bowler to stay alive in cricket rather than the age. Shane Bond also faced International restrictions from New Zealand Cricket Board due to his involvement in Indian Cricket League which brought a huge break in his short career.

What I think is, New Zealand has definitely lost their “Best bowler” but they should thank this man who has made New Zealand proud of something. Shane Bond feels proud to represent New Zealand in T20 World Cup in his last match. It may not be possible for New Zealand to replace Shane currently but there are also some young talents like Ian Butler who can help to fill this gap in the future.

Players For Sale

The IPL3 auction has probably made an amazing change in the teams. The most amazing thing is that a young West Indian cricketer was most expensive in the whole auction. He is none other than Kieron Pollard, the young West Indian bomb. With his impressive performance in last year, he definitely deserve this bid.

Another expensive player was Shane Bond, who has just returned from ICL to International cricket. Shane Bond may change the scenario for Kolkata Knight Riders. King Khan has finally bought a good bowler for his team.