Australia’s crickter Aaron Finch retires from international cricket

Australia’s crickter Aaron Finch retires from international cricket

• Australia’s longest-serving captain in the shortest format of the game, veteran batter Aaron Finch called time on his international career. 
• He retired as the One Day International (ODI) captain of the Australian team last year, has confirmed his retirement from T20Is. Finch guided Australia to its maiden ICC World T20 title in 2021.
• Australia’s most successful captain in the history of T20I cricket, Finch will continue to play for Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL). 
• Finch’s position in the Australian squad came under the scanner after the Men from Down failed to defend its T20 World Cup crown at home in 2022. Hosts Australia failed to make the knockout stage of the T20 World Cup last year.

Raphael Varane announced his retirement from international football

• France defender Raphael Varane is retiring from international football, ending a 10-year career with Les Bleus in which he won the World Cup in 2018 and was a runner-up four years later. 
• The 29-year-old, who has 93 caps after making his debut in 2013, also helped Didier Deschamps’s side win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.
• Varane made his international debut against Georgia in March 2013 and was a regular for Les Bleus all the way through to their 4-2 victory over Croatia in the 2022 World Cup final. 
• He has been a reliable option for Didier Deschamps over recent years, but is ready to focus solely on events at Manchester United.
• Varane represented France at under-18, under-20 and under-21 level. He was part of France’s FIFA World Cup squad in 2014, when he was nominated for the Best Young Player award, in 2018, when he played every minute of every game as France went on to win the competition, and in 2022, when France finished as runners-up.