(MENAFN- Colombo Gazette) Subramaniam Badrinath, who played 10 internationals for India across the three formats between 2008 and 2011, has retired from all forms of the game.
Badrinath, who turned 38 last week, said at a press conference that he just 'decided it was the right time' to avoid committing to Tamil Nadu, his state team between 2000-01 and 2013-14, or any of the other domestic teams. Since 2014, he has played for Vidarbha and Hyderabad as a professional.
'This has certainly not been an easy decision to be honest. I've been pondering over it. Somehow my hand didn't go into penning the letter over the last year. I don't know why. But having turned 38, I decided it was about the right time,' Badrinath said.
Over more than a decade-and-a-half of first-class cricket, Badrinath, a technically correct batsman with the ability to bat for long periods, scored 10,245 runs. Of those, 185 came for India in two Tests, seven one-day internationals and one Twenty20 International.
He made his international debut in an ODI against Sri Lanka in August 2008, scoring an unbeaten 27 in 57 balls in a three-wicket win. That, however, remained his best ODI score.
Similarly, in Tests, he scored 56 in over three hours in his debut Test innings, against South Africa in February 2010, but his next two innings were of 6 and 1, leading to him being dropped.
'To be honest, I don't have any regrets in my career,' he said. 'Whenever I played for Tamil Nadu, I wore my heart on my sleeve and gave my 100 per cent. I tried my best individually and from the team perspective. But that's the way it happened.
'I couldn't have done anything different. As a batsman, only playing Test cricket can make you better. You don't get to face bowlers of the quality of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and James Anderson in domestic cricket. It's important that you get a decent run in Test cricket. Unless you are a born genius like Sachin Tendulkar, you can't immediately adapt to Test cricket.'
He couldn't quite make a mark in international cricket, and also, never won the Ranji Trophy, India's top first-class tournament.
'Perhaps the 2003-04 Ranji final, when we played against Mumbai, was our best chance since we were playing at Chepauk (in Chennai, Tamil Nadu's home ground). We won the toss too and elected to bat first. But when you are playing a side like Mumbai, you have to bat them out in the first innings, which we didn't.'
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