Thursday 29 October 2015 10:46, UK
Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag has retired from all forms of international cricket and will not play in the forthcoming Indian Premier League.
Sehwag, who last featured on the international stage in the series against Australia 18 months ago, scored 8,586 runs from 104 Test matches, making him fifth on the all-time list for India.
The 37-year-old remains the only Indian batsman to have scored a triple century in international cricket, having achieved the feat twice, against Pakistan (309) in 2004 and against South Africa (319) in 2008.
He amassed more than 17,000 runs across all forms of the game for India and his decision to formally stand down from international cricket comes a week after former team-mate Zaheer Khan announced his international retirement.
"I have always done what I felt was right and not what conformists thought to be right," he said in a statement.
"God has been kind and I have done what I wanted to do, on the field and in my life, and I had decided some time back that I will retire on my 37th birthday.
"So today, while I spend my day with my family, I hereby announce my retirement from all forms of international cricket and from the Indian Premier League."
The swashbuckling opener has just returned to India after joining Brian Lara, Graeme Swann and former England captain Michael Vaughan for the launch of the Masters Champions Legue tournament in Dubai.
Sehwag's participation in the Twenty20 competition, scheduled to start in February next year, rules him out of playing in the Indian Super League, which will be shown live and exclusive on Sky Sports in April.
