Jharkhand legend Saurabh Tiwary announces retirement from professional cricket

Former India cricketer Saurabh Tiwary has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Jharkhand’s last league game of the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy against Rajasthan, starting on February 16 in Jamshedpur, will be his last professional match.

"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,” ESPNcricinfo quoted the 34-year-old as saying.

"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."

The left-handed batter, who made his debut for Jharkhand in 2006, has featured in 115 first-class games, 116 List A matches and 181 T20s, scoring 8030, 4050 and 3454 runs respectively. He has six centuries and 22 fifties in List A cricket, but his numbers in red-ball cricket are even more impressive.

Tiwary will end his career as the leading run-getter for Jharkhand in first-class cricket. 22 tons and 34 fifties - Tiwary has an average of 47.51 in red-ball cricket. In the ongoing Ranji Trophy, the middle-order batter has scored 158 runs in five innings, with 114 coming in one innings against Manipur.

Tiwary also got to play three ODIs for India in 2010, scoring 49 runs in two innings without getting dismissed. He was also part of the India Under-19 side that won the 2008 World Cup under the leadership of Virat Kohli. He was also part of the Jharkhand team that won the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2011. 

In the IPL, Tiwary represented four franchises - Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) and Rising Pune Supergiant. He ended up with 1494 runs in 74 innings @ 28.73 and a strike rate of 120.1. He last played an IPL game in 2021.