How long will the Big 4 play?

[al Furqaan]

The big 4 are all in their prime now, they won't be getting any better than they already are. In ODIs, they have all been quite good over the last few years, customary choke jobs notwithstanding. Their ages are as follows:

Riyad 32
Shakib 31
Mushy 31
Tamim 29

Now SC players usually play well beyond their shelf dates and usually end up being cut from the team before they reluctantly retire. A lot of Asian players (batsmen in particular) have played till their late 30s or even till 40 (Jayasuriya, Sanga, Misbah, Younis, Tendulkar, Herath, and surely more).

So how many more years will these guys have?

Mushy, Tamim, and Riyad have good work ethic and are fit. I expect them to stick around till the 2023 WC, by which point Riyad will be 37. Tamim, has indicated his hunger to score 10K runs, etc so I expect he will try and play till the 2027 tournament. Shakib a few years ago targetted the 2023 WC, so he might actually be the first of the Big 4 to call it a day.