London, Oct 3:
Out-of-favour India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has announced his retirement from first-class cricket after playing the final English county championship match for Northamptonshire against Middlesex at the hallowed Lord’s last month.
Chahal, who has played 72 ODIs and 80 T20Is for India, never fully realised his red-ball potential and played 49 first-class game in which he picked 148 wickets with six five-wicket hauls.
In his final first-class season for the Northants, Chahal took 21 wickets in five games including a nine-wicket match haul against Durham.
“I played my last First-Class match at Lord’s, saying these words is emotional as a Test cap was always a dream, one that I carried with me for many years. It may not have happened, but I am genuinely content with the journey I have had and incredibly grateful for every opportunity that came my way in this format,” Chahal said in an instagram post.
“For me, red-ball cricket was never just another format. It was where I learned the meaning of patience, character, resilience and the pure joy of being out there for hours, fighting for every run and every wicket,” he added.
Chahal never managed to be in India’s Test scheme of things although he was once picked for India A to play against South Africa A when the coach Ravi Shastri and captain Virat Kohli were desperately looking for a wrist spinner.