India News – Siddarth Kaul retires from Indian cricket, open to playing abroad

4 dias ago 0 4

Almost six years after he last played for India, the fast bowler Siddarth Kaul announced his retirement from Indian cricket. He is, however, still open to the possibility of playing abroad. The 34-year-old ends his international career with six caps, three each in T20Is and ODIs between June 2018 and February 2019.

In the 2023–24 season, Kaul helped Punjab win their first T20 title, finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 16 in 10 games while lifting the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was also the highest wicket-taker (19 wickets in six games ) in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Kaul recently represented Punjab in the first half of the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy season, where he went wicketless in two matches. He finishes with 297 first-class wickets in 88 matches, at an average of 26.77, over a career that spanned 17 years. He also took 199 List A wickets at 24:30 and 182 in T20s at 22:04, with an economy rate of 7.67.

Kaul joined Punjab in first-class cricket at the age of 17 and made headlines a year later when he was part of Virat Kohli’s victorious India squad at the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. However, multiple back injuries set him back for more than five years.

Between December 2007 and February 2012, Kaul played just six domestic matches across formats. When he returned, he was part of an emerging crop of fast bowlers in Punjab alongside Manpreet Gony, Sandeep Sharma and Barinder Sran.

Over the years, Kaul’s wicket-taking ability and deadly bowling skills have made him a key member of the Punjab white-ball setup. He finishes as the highest wicket-taker of all time (Image: Getty Images)155 wickets) in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (120).

The highlight of Kaul’s career came in 2018 when he won a T20I cap on the tour of Ireland after performing consistently in the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad for two seasons. In 2017, he took 16 wickets in 10 games, while in 2018 he was SRH’s highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps in a season in which they finished runners-up to the Chennai Super Kings.

Apart from Sunrisers, Kaul has also represented Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL.

Kaul is open to the idea of playing abroad, “wherever opportunities arise”.

“I feel like I still have 3-4 years of cricket left, but I wanted to go out on a high, when I was in peak fitness and performing well, rather than being asked to go because of fitness or not performing at some other point “, he told ESPNcricinfo.

“If you see my graph over the last 9-10 years, I have been performing very well across all formats. So, I thought it was a good time to go. Hopefully going forward, whatever opportunities come my way, like in county cricket [he represented Northamptonshire in three Division 2 Championship games this summer, picking up 13 wickets at 29.84]or Legends League, MLC etc, I would like to explore them if I have the opportunity.”

Source link