Left-handed batter Saurabh Tiwary on Monday (February 12) announced his decision to retire from all forms of cricket.
Tiwary will play his career's final match on February 16 for Jharkhand in the ongoing Ranji Trophy in Jamshedpur.
The southpaw represented several IPL franchises but his last appearance was for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 2021 season.
Tiwary, 34, confirmed his retirement decision in a press conference. "It's a little tough to bid farewell to this journey that I had started before my schooling. But I'm also sure that this is the right time for this. I feel that if you're not in the national team and IPL, it's better to vacate a spot in the state side for a youngster. Youngsters are getting a lot of chances in our Test team so I'm making this decision," he told reporters at Jamshedpur's Keenan Stadium.
"It's not like I've decided this only on the basis of my performances. You can see my record in Ranji and in the last domestic season. It's always asked what I'm going to do next and for now I only know that cricket is the only thing I know so I'm going to be connected to the game. I got an offer from politics too but I haven't thought about that," he added.
Saurabh Tiwary was part of the Indian U-19 team that won the Youth World Cup in 2008 under the leadership of Virat Kohli.
Tiwary made his India debut in October 2010 following impressive performances for Mumbai Indians and Jharkhand. However, he got only three chances in ODIs and managed to score 49 runs from two innings.
Tiwary played for four IPL franchises - Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) and the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant. He scored 1494 runs in 93 IPL matches, including eight half-centuries.
In domestic cricket, Tiwary has been a mainstay for Jharkhand over the last 17 years, amassing 8030 runs at an average of 47.51 in 115 first-class matches. He has 22 hundreds and 34 fifties to his name in first-class cricket as well.
Tiwary’s numbers are equally impressive in List A cricket, scoring 4050 runs in 116 games at an average of 46.55, including 6 tons and 27 half-centuries.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
