Naman Ojha announces retirement from all forms of cricket at 37

Naman Ojha, 37, has called it a day and decided to hang up his boots from all forms of cricket. The Indian wicket-keeper batsman made his international debut for India in 2010, but ended up playing the only one ODI, against Sri Lanka at Harare.

After his forgettable ODI debut that year on June 5, Ojha went on to play his first International T20 game for India within a week of his first international match for the ‘Men in Blue’. Ojha played two T20Is for India, both against Zimbabwe at Harare, before being dropped.

While he was never called back in the limited-overs setup, Ojha earned his first Test cap in 2015 during India’s tour of Sri Lanka. Ojha, then a 32-year-old, made his Test debut for India, replacing an injured Wriddhiman Saha in the 3rd Test, and scored 21 and 35 across the two innings



of the match that India won.

That Test match, again, ended up being the only one in which Naman Ojha donned the Indian whites.

Although he had a short-lived international career, Naman Ojha remained a stalwart in the domestic circuit and finished with 7,861 runs in the Ranji Trophy, the eighth highest run-getter in the tournament, for his state team Madhya Pradesh. In fact, his 351 dismissals as wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy is the highest in the tournament’s history.

In the Indian Premier League, Ojha has represented multiple teams including the Sunrisers Hyderabad and was a part of the winning side, that beat RCB in the final, that lifted the 2016 IPL title. Ojha was also recruited by the Rajasthan Royals franchise and the Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) before his move to SRH.