Thursday, August 29, aged 31 Indian National Cricket Team Left-arm pacer Barinder Sran announced his retirement from all forms of cricket via Instagram.
Barinder Sran was a talented left-arm seamer who left boxing to pursue cricket. He was not among the fastest pace bowlers, but the legendary Yuvraj Singh saw something special in him and once said that Sran reminded him of a young Zaheer Khan.
Seeing Sra’s talent, the BCCI selectors picked him in the ODI squad for the 2016 tour of Australia, even though the pacer has only 8 List-A match experience.
He made his ODI debut under MS Dhoni’s captaincy on January 12 and shone with a 3-wicket haul. In total, he played in 6 ODIs for India and picked up 7 wickets at an average of 38.42 and an economy of 5.34.
Also, Barinder Sran made his T20I debut on June 20, 2016 against Zimbabwe in Harare and returned sensational bowling figures of 4/10. He played one more T20I match for India in which he scored 2 wickets.
His last ODI appearance for India was on 15 June 2016 and his last T20I match was on 22 June 2016. After that, he was not considered for selection and never wore the Indian jersey again.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, he took to Instagram to announce his retirement from cricket and look back on his journey. He said:
“As I officially hang up my cricket boots, I look back on my journey with gratitude. Since retiring from boxing in 2009, cricket has given me countless and incredible experiences. Fast bowling soon became my lucky charm and opened doors for me to represent prestigious IPL franchises and ultimately in 2016 gets the honor of representing India in
Although my international career was short, the memories created will be remembered forever – Barinder Sran
Sran further wrote that although his international career was not long, the memories he created will last forever. He elaborated:
“Though my international career was short, the memories created will last forever. I am eternally grateful to God Almighty for providing me with the right coaches and guidance to support me throughout my journey.
“As I embark on this new chapter, I am eternally grateful for the opportunities cricket has given me. Finally, as the saying goes, ‘Like the sky, dreams have no limits’, keep dreaming.”
Barinder Sran also played for Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in the Indian Premier League. He was also a netminder for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League.
Overall, he picked up 18 wickets in 24 IPL matches at an average of 42.05, an economy of 9.40 and a strike rate of 26.8.
He was last seen playing a competitive cricket match for Punjab against Madhya Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on 28 February 2021. In that game, he scored 24 runs and took a wicket for 91 runs.
