Watch: Naman Ojha Breaks Down in Tears as he Announces Retirement From All Forms Of Cricket

The 37-year-old Indian wicket-keeper, Naman Ojha, has called it a day and decided to hang up his boots from all forms of cricket. The Indian wicket-keeper batsman made his international debut for India in 2010, but ended up playing the only one ODI, against Sri Lanka at Harare.

The 37-year-old holds the record for the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy. Ojha, who has been a regular in the domestic circuit and the Indian Premier League, made his international debut in 2010 in Zimbabwe. However, Ojha’s stint in international cricket was cut short after featuring in an ODI and two T20Is. His incredible outing in Australia – where he notched consecutive double hundreds with India A in 2014 – helped him earn a Test debut in 2015.

An emotional Ojha held back his tears while announcing his retirement on Monday, February 15. Check out the video –

#Indian international cricket player Naman Ojha announced his retirement. He was worst in tears while announced his retirement from international cricket. pic.twitter.com/yciKLXBiEX

— Govind's(Personal)🇮🇳 (@DilSeBhojpali) February 15, 2021

“After 20 years in first-class cricket and many more during the junior competitions, I feel it’s time for me to move on. It was a long journey and wonderful phase of my life,” Ojha said.

“I am grateful to all who supported me in achieving dream of playing for my country and state – my coaches, trainers, physios and selectors, my captains and teammates, my family and well wishers, and MPCA & BCCI.”

While he has retired from international and domestic cricket, Ojha hopes to play foreign leagues and said:

“While I leave the competitive format of game for my State and Country with best of memories, I shall be keen to wear the gloves and face the ball in global competitions. Cricket has given me best of almost everything in my life till date. In future, I shall strive hard to return back to this beautiful game to the best of my abilities.”

Although Ojha’s international career never took off, the Ujjain-born player has played 146 first-class games notching up 9,753 runs with 22 hundreds at an average of 41.67 in a career spanning two decades.

He made his last appearance in a Ranji Trophy match for MP against Uttar Pradesh in January last year. He led Madhya Pradesh in that Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Indore. In the Indian Premier League, Ojha played for Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils.