Not in selectors' scheme of things, Jharkhand spin stalwart Nadeem calls it quit

Jharkhand spinner Shahbaz Nadeem who played two tests for India announced his retirement from international cricket He does not see any opportunities in the national team and has to try his luck in the franchisebased leaguesThe 34yearold said it is better to pave the way for younger talent I realise I cant feature for Team India anymore as Im not in the selectors plans and there is a pool of talented youngsters waiting for their chanceAlso Read IN PHOTOS WPL 2024 MI vs DC Delhites dominate MumbaiI would have continued playing if there were opportunities for me in Team India However I dont foresee any chances in near future Hence I decided to retire from Indian cricket and try my luck in different leagues added the bowler who will be seen in action in the upcoming Legends League Cricket in Sri LankaNadeem who held the record of best bowling figures in an innings in List A cricket in his twodecadelong career for Jharkhand said that I felt this is the correct time and there is no point holding a place in a state team for individual records Its better to give chance to the youngstersHe got a surprise test callup for the national team against South Africa at his home venue JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi in 2019 He received his maiden test cap due to an injury sustained by Indias spin wizard Kuldeep YadavVirat Kohli was the Indian captain in 2019 The Indian team brought Nadeem in less than 24 hours before the third test against South Africa Nadeem was relaxing in his flat in Kolkata after featuring in Vijay Hazare in Karnataka when he received the debut callAlso Read IPL in sight but World Cup in mindHe flew to Ranchi and the next morning he was handed the No 296 India Test cap by Kohli I still cherish the moment and remember everything vividly It was the best day of my life to debut in front of my home fans he turned emotional while remembering the momentous day of October 19Nadeem returned with a match haul of 440 which included the wicket of Temba Bavuma in the first innings India won the third Test by an innings and 202 runs The Jharkhand spinner had to wait for two years for his next Test which happened to be his last against England in Chennai in 2021 Ive no regrets but as any other fellow cricketer I would have liked to play a few more Tests then it would have been great for me said Nadeem who has eight wickets from two Tests Nadeem hogged the limelight in 201819 season when he grabbed a world record 810 from his quota of 10 overs as Rajasthan folded for 73 in 283 overs in a Vijay Hazare Trophy league match in Chennai Jharkhand went on to win the match by seven wickets Nadeem had joined the state team on the eve of the match flying straight from Dubai where he was assisting Team India in the Asia Cup as a net bowlerThere was moisture in the wicket I just kept hitting the right areas and also got some help from the wicket en route to the feat he said He was the top wickettaker with 24 to his name at 1304 from nine matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that season From 140 firstclass matches Nadeem finished with 542 wickets including 28 fivewicket and seven 10wicket match hauls He best figures in firstclass cricket were of 745 He was also the leading wickettaker in the Ranji Trophy in two successive seasons in 2015iquest16 and 2016iquest17 and snared 40plus firstclass wickets in three seasons In List A cricket he ended up with 175 wickets from 134 matches He featured in 72 matches for Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL Notably he caught everyones attention during the 2012 season where he delivered a standout performance securing figures of 216 while bowling in the powerplay as Delhi Daredevils bowled out Mumbai Indians for a mere 92 runsWith PTI Inputs