Dashing India opener Virender Sehwag has chosen the day of his 37th birthday to officially announce his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League. The confirmation ends a lot of speculation, which had started ever since his one-time teammate Zaheer Khan announced his retirement last week. The 37-year-old scored a fighting 51 for Haryana in the Ranji Trophy last week, and looks set to continue to play a major role for his team in this year’s domestic season. He is also set to turn out in the Master Champions League in 2016, a T20 league for retired players. In a long message he posted on the occasion, Sehwag thanked the several captains he had played under who had backed him, and also his ‘greatest partner’ – the Indian cricket fan, for taking part in the journey of love, support and memories – among several others. He leaves the international arena having amassed 8,586 Test runs and 8,273 ODI runs.
