LISTICLE
Follow UsChamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)
After Sri Lanka's triumphant Asia Cup 2024 campaign, Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu said that she will kick on at least till the 50-over World Cup, slated to be played in India in 2025. The 34-year-old has been in supreme form of late.
The 34-year-old has scored 675 runs at a strike rate of 134.19 in 2024, including two tons and four fifties. She will be key to Sri Lanka's chances of faring well in the tournament, but will she be back for the next edition in two years?
Sophie Devine (New Zealand)
Sophie Devine has played every edition of the Women's T20 World Cup since 2009. Will 2024 be her last one? The 35-year-old all-rounder has already announced that she will step down as the side's skipper after the marquee event, which could potentially indicate that she may not be part of the team in 2026.
Devine is just one of two cricketers from her country to score over 3,000 T20I runs, and her medium pace has fetched her 117 wickets - the most for New Zealand. Regardless of what happens, she will go down as one of the greatest cricketers from her country.
Suzie Bates (New Zealand)
Devine's teammate Suzie Bates - the highest run-getter in T20Is with 4,415 runs - has been ever-present in the White Ferns' line-up for the last 17 years.
Like Devine, Bates has played in every single edition of the Women's T20 World Cup, but it will be her last in all likeliness. Bates will be 39 by the next World Cup, and she will do everything in her power to help her side to a maiden title.
Stafanie Taylor (West Indies)
The leading run-getter for West Indies Women in T20Is, with 3,338 runs, Stafanie Taylor has had a remarkable career in white-ball cricket. In fact, West Indies are the only team other than Australia and England to win the Women's T20 World Cup, and that was under Taylor's leadership in 2016.
Since last year, injuries have kept the former skipper out of action. She has played just 10 of West Indies 22 matches since 2023, and as a result, we could be witnessing the fag end of the 33-year-old's international career.
Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
What better way to bow out than doing so after winning a World Cup? Just ask Rohit Sharma about it. Harmanpreet Kaur has a chance to script history as she could lead India to their maiden World Cup title across formats.
She recently said that she believes her side has what it takes to win the coveted title. Harmanpreet is one of the highest run-getters in the world and one of just seven players to have scored over 3,000 runs. The 35-year-old would trade all of that to win a World Cup title, and if this is indeed her last T20 World Cup, what a way to bow out that would be.
Ellyse Perry (Australia)
Arguably one of the greatest all-rounders of this generation, Ellyse Perry has won everything there is to be won in the sport. There is no harm in going for another trophy, right? She has already won SIX T20 World Cup titles and has two more ODI World Cups in her trophy cabinet. The 33-year-old is among the top five wicket-takers in the format and has close to 2,000 runs with the bat, which includes nine fifties.
Her bowling has been restricted recently due to a knee injury. She did not bowl even a single delivery in the recent T20I series against New Zealand. However, her batting prowess can fill any team, and even at the start of the end of her career, she cannot be taken lightly.
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