2011 ICC World Cup winner S, Sreesanth announced his retirement from all forms of India’s domestic cricket on on Wednesday (March 9).
Sreesanth, played his last first-class game for his state side — Kerala — in a game against Meghalaya in the 2021-22 edition of the Ranji Trophy where he returned with figures of 2/40 and 0/57 in the two innings.
Taking to Twitter, the 39-year-old said: “During my 25 years career as a cricket player, I’ve always pursued success and winning cricket games, while preparing and training with the highest standards of competition, passion and perseverance.”
“It has been an honor to represent my family, my teammates and the people of India. And everyone who loves the game. With much sadness but without regret, I say this with a heavy heart: I am retiring from the Indian domestic (first class and all formats) cricket,” he added.
“For the next generation of cricketers..I have chosen to end my first class cricket career. This decision is mine alone, and although I know this will not bring me happiness, it is the right and honorable action to take at this time in my life. I’ve cherished every moment,” stated Sreesanth on Twitter.
Notably in first-class cricket, Sreesanth featured in 74 games, picking 213 wickets whereas in List-A cricket, the pacer scalped 124 wickets from 92 appearances.
Sreesanth also played 65 T20 matches where he ended up bagging 54 wickets.
Earlier, Sreesanth had made his debut for India in October 2005 in an ODI game against Sri Lanka. Overall in ODIs, he picked up 75 wickets from 53 ODIs. He also played 27 Test matches where he picked 87 wickets.
In T20Is, he managed just seven wickets from 10 games.
Significantly, the Kerala pacer’s last international appearance was in 2011 in the Oval Test against England.
In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sreesanth played for Kings XI Punjab, now known as Punjab Kings (PBKS), and Rajasthan Royals. He played a total of 44 IPL games where he bagged 40 wickets. His last IPL appearance was for the Royals against Punjab on May 9, 2013. Intrestingly, it was the same season where he was accused of being involved in spot-fixing scandal which led to his arrest and was later handed a ban.
Sreesanth was handed a life ban along with two other cricketers — Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila however, he challenged the decision in the Supreme Court, which set aside the life-ban and asked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to consider a fresh punishment following which his sentence was then reduced to a seven-year suspension.
Significantly, Sreesanth’s suspension period ended in September 2020 after which he played for Kerala in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2021.
Later, Sreesanth had also put his name for the IPL mega auction however, none of the franchise showed interest in him.