Master-blaster Virender Sehwag has officially announced his retirement from international cricket as well as the Indian Premier League (IPL), on his 37th birthday. Confirming the recent speculations about his retirement, Sehwag himself announced the decision to hang up his boots on his Twitter account.
In a statement released to the media, Sehwag said: "To paraphrase Mark Twain, the report of my retirement yesterday was exaggerated! However, I have always done what I felt was right and not what conformists thought to be right. God has been kind and I have done what I wanted to do - on the field and in my life. And I had decided some time back that I will retire on my 37th birthday. So today, while I spend my day with my family, I hereby announce my retirement from all forms of International Cricket and from the Indian Premier League.
"Cricket has been my life and continues to be so. Playing for India was a memorable journey and I tried to make it more memorable for my team mates and the Indian cricket fans. I believe that I was reasonably successful in doing so. For that, I wish to thank all my team mates over the years - some of the greatest players of the game. I would like to thank all my captains who believed in me and backed me to the hilt. I also thank our greatest partner, the Indian cricket fan, for all the love, support and memories."
Sehwag's decision comes just days after his fellow team-mate Zaheer Khan decided to call it quits.
In his 12-year career, Sehwag has created and broken many records. He is the only Indian bastman ever to have scored a triple century (319) against Pakistan in a Test match in Multan. Sehwag has also been a part of the squad that lifted two World Cups - 2007 T20 World Cup in South Africa and 2011 ODI World Cup in India.
In 104 Tests, Sehwag played 104 Tests scoring 8586 runs, hitting 23 centuries and 32 half-centuries. In 251 ODIs, he accumulated 8273 runs at an average of 35.05 and scored 15 hundreds apart from hitting 38 fifties.
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