Saurabh Tiwary
Credit: X/@IAMSTiwary
New Delhi: Left-arm batter Saurabh Tiwary has decided to retire from professional cricket after Jharkhand's final league match of the Ranji Trophy against Rajasthan in Jamshedpur from February 16.
In a career spanning 17 years, Tiwary represented Jharkhand and played three ODIs for India and turned up for four IPL franchises.
"It's a little tough to bid farewell to this journey that I had started before my schooling," the 34-year-old was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
"But I'm also sure that this is the right time for this. I feel that if you're not in the national team and IPL, it's better to vacate a spot in the state side for a youngster. Youngsters are getting a lot of chances in our Test team so I'm making this decision."
Tiwary scored 49 runs in the three ODIs that he played for the country in 2010. He amassed 8030 runs in 189 innings at an average of 47.51 including 22 hundreds and 34 fifties in 115 first-class matches.
He also scored 1494 runs at an average of 28.73 and a strike rate of 120 in 93 IPL matches. In total, he racked up 3454 T20 runs with 16 fifties at an average of 29.02 and strike rate of 122.17 in 181 matches.
In the ongoing Ranji season, Tiwary has played four games for Jharkhand, who are out of contention for the knockout stage.
"It's not like I've decided this only on the basis of my performances. You can see my record in Ranji and in the last domestic season," Tiwary said.
"It's always asked what I'm going to do next and for now I only know that cricket is the only thing I know so I'm going to be connected to the game. I got an offer from politics too but I haven't thought about that."
Tiwary, whose cricketing career began as an 11-year-old, earned his first-class debut in the 2006-07 Ranji Trophy season. He was part of India U-19 World Cup winning team led by former India skipper Virat Kohli in 2008.
He has also led Jharkhand 88 time across formats, winning 36, losing 33 and drawing 19. In his List A career, Tiwary scored 4050 runs in 116 games with 27 fifties and six hundreds at an average of 46.55. He last played IPL as part of Mumbai Indians in 2021.