Yusuf Pathan and Vinay Kumar Announce Retirement from all forms of cricket

Former India cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Vinay Kumar both announced their retirement from all formats of the game on Friday the 26th of February.

In a statement released on his social media, Pathan stated that “I officially announce my retirement from all formats of the game. I thank my family, friends, fans, teams, coaches and the whole country wholeheartedly for all their support and love. I am sure you will continue to encourage me in the future as well.”

The 38-year-old famously made his India debut in the T20 World Cup final vs South Africa in 2007 and was part of both Indian World Cup-winning sides in 2007 and 2011. He played 22 T20’s and 57 ODI’s for the country, scoring 1146 runs in total including two stunning centuries in chases against New Zealand and South Africa. Pathan also played 174 IPL games for three franchisees scoring 3204 runs and picking up 42 wickets. Pathan is also a three-time IPL champion having won the inaugural edition with the Shane Warne led Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and twice with Kolkata Knight Riders in 2012 and 2014.

Vinay Kumar also took to Twitter to announce that he will be hanging up his boots. In his statement, he said that “Today the “Davengere Express” after running for 25 years and passing so many stations of cricketing life has finally arrived to a station called retirement from international and first-class cricket. It is not an easy decision to make, however, there comes a time in every sportsperson’s life where one has to call it a day.”

Vinay Kumar played 31 ODI’s, 9 T20’s and one Test for India against Australia in Perth in 2012. His final game for the country came at his home ground in Bangalore in 2013 where Rohit Sharma scored his first double century in international cricket against Australia.

Vinay Kumar had an extremely successful domestic career, captaining Karnataka to two back-to-back Ranji Trophy titles in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Kumar picked up 504 First-Class wickets for Karnataka and Puducherry at an incredible average of 22.44.

Kumar played for four IPL franchisees and was part of the Mumbai Indians title-winning squad in 2015. He finished with 105 IPL wickets in 105 matches and is currently the 15th highest wicket-taker in the history of the competition.