Despite retirement, Luke Ronchi still can't get over World Cup defeat

Today, 22nd June, New Zealand’s wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi announced his retirement from international cricket. The news came in as a shock to many, as Ronchi was striking the ball well enough to play. But the 36-year old feels it is the right time to end his cricketing career. Before donning the black jersey, Ronchi had also represented the Kangaroos.

But when he found that the Australian team has no vacancy for him, he decided to switch allegiance. In 85 ODIs, Ronchi has scored 1220 runs at a strike rate of over 110. The Dannevirke, Manawatu-born started as a Western Australian player. The one thing he is finding hard to forget is the defeat against his former team Australia in the finals of ICC World Cup 2015.

The pain is more intensified by the magnificent performance by the Kiwis against South Africa in the semis to go into the finals. “You can’t get past the World Cup. To be involved in semi-finals, to get into the finals, even thought that wasn’t our best game of the tournament… For the New Zealand team to get into a World Cup final and play in front of 90-odd thousand people, the whole six-eight weeks was a fantastic time to be playing cricket,” said ‘Rock’ while speaking to ESPNcricinfo.

Brad Haddin had already fixed his position in Australia’s XI. So, that door was all but closed for Ronchi. But he was not willing to give up. As a result, he came back to his nation of birth, New Zealand.

“In the end, it wasn’t really a hard decision. I wanted to play international cricket and I wanted to play more. It wasn’t like I had retired or wasn’t playing or dropped and wasn’t getting picked. The thought of not trying in New Zealand would’ve been a lot harder for me. Everyone was right behind me, even players from Western Australia and coaching staff. That was a nice feeling. You get a bit worried about what might happen, but everyone was fully behind me,” Ronchi had said in an interview.

Australia has more money and depth than New Zealand

The former Mumbai Indians player feels that the baggy greens have more money and little more depth than the Black Caps. “Australia has got a little more depth and more money to put into development and facilities. But having said that New Zealand cricket has been doing fantastically well at the moment in all three forms. So, depth doesn’t always make a big difference but if you want to stay consistent – like how Australia have – you need to have the depth to keep pushing guys and making guys perform and getting better. I think New Zealand’s getting there. We still have a little way to go, but we’re doing pretty well at the moment,” opined Ronchi.