India fast bowler Niranjana Nagarajan retires from all cricket

India fast bowler Niranjana Nagarajan has quit all cricket, making the announcement through a social-media post.

“Playing cricket at a professional level has been the best thing that could have happened to me for everything in life commenced with it,” she said. “Playing this game gave me a vision, ambition and reason to look forward in life. I am grateful, blessed and thankful to have played this sport for 24 years at a professional level and when I look back at it, the journey has been nothing less than beautiful and I will be carrying the lovely warm memories it gave me along the way through my life.”

Niranjana, 35, played two Tests, 22 ODIs and 14 T20Is, all between 2008 and 2016. She made her India debut as a 19-year-old in an ODI against England in Bath. In fact, her debut in all three formats came against England. In 2012, she made her T20I debut in Canterbury, while her Test debut came in Wormsley in 2014.

She picked four wickets in her two Tests, 24 wickets in 22 ODIs and nine in 14 T20Is. She last turned out for India in a T20I in Ranchi in 2016 during Sri Lanka’s tour of the country.

Niranjana was a key figure on her debut Test where she grabbed four wickets in the first innings as England were bowled out for 92, and then scored a plucky 27 to help India take the lead. It paved the way for India’s fourth Test win overall and just the second against England.

But she didn’t get a wicket in 25 further overs of bowling in Test cricket.

On the domestic front, Niranjana played for Railways and Tamil Nadu.