Naman Ojha, the former wicket-keeper batsman has announced retirement from all formats of the game. He holds the record for the most number of dismissals by a wicket-keeper in Ranji Trophy. He was a player of Madhya Pradesh for 20 years. He was born in Ujjain in 1983. He debuted for Madhya Pradesh in 2001-02. He was a consistent player for his state. He also played with Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Daredevils and SunRisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. He won the competition with SRH in 2016, he was an important player in that team. He has scored 1554 runs in 113 IPL games.
While announcing his retirement in Indore, Naman Ojha got emotional while announcing his retirement on Monday. He said, “Absolutely no regrets but for the last two years, the body wasn’t coping with keeping wickets in the longer formats and with the MP team in transition, I thought this is the right time to move on. I will explore opportunities in global T20 leagues to keep playing the game I have loved since childhood.”
Here is the video where he is seen getting emotional while reading out his statement announcing retirement:
He also announced his retirement on Twitter. He wrote:
Despite being in the Madhya Pradesh Ranji side for so long, he was not able to take his state to victory even once. But he has 7,861 runs in the Ranji Trophy, which is the eighth highest by any player in the competition. He had a forgettable international stint as a player. He has just played a single Test match for India against Sri Lanka in 2015 and has also played in one ODI and one T20I against Zimbabwe in 2010.
Although his contribution in International cricket has been less, he has been an integral part of IPL from 2009 to 2018 playing for three different teams and many fans would remember him for his time during the IPL.
Many fans wished Ojha farewell on his retirement via Twitter. See what did they say
Naman Ojha will always be remembered for his heroics as a player in IPL and also for his 471 dismissals as a cricketer, which are the highest by any player.