Ranji Trophy 2023-24: List of cricketers who announced retirement

Some players have retired from all forms, while some have just called their fime on First Class cricket during Ranji Trophy 2023-24.

The ongoing Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season saw the group stages being concluded with eight teams qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Vidarbha, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, and Madhya Pradesh finished top in their respective groups. The top two teams from the Plate division, Hyderabad and Meghalaya will qualify for the Elite Group next season, while the two bottom teams across the four groups, Manipur and Goa, will be relegated to the Plate division.

Meanwhile, Vidarbha, Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Baroda, and Saurashtra are the eight teams to qualify for the quarterfinals.

But this season also saw a handful of cricketers bidding goodbye to cricket either in full or partially due to various reasons. Today we take a look at a few of such cricketers who announced retirement from professional cricket after the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 group stages.

Here is the list of cricketers who announced retirement during Ranji Trophy 2023-24:

1. Faiz Fazal

Faiz Fazal, Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy-winning skipper, has announced his retirement after 21 years with the team. The elegant opener famously guided them to their first Ranji Trophy victory in 2018 and was the team’s leading run-scorer that season.

Fazal made a remarkable First Class (FC) debut in December 2003, scoring 151 runs in a Plate Group encounter against Jammu & Kashmir. Since then, he has been a constant at the top of the Vidarbha batting order, renowned for his impeccable technique.

Throughout his career, the left-hander scored 9183 runs in FC cricket, 3641 runs in List A matches, and 1273 runs in T20s and he will retire as Vidarbha’s leading run-scorer in both List A and FC cricket. He also played just one ODI for India, against Zimbabwe and scored 55* in his only outing in the blue jersey.

2. Manoj Tiwary

Manoj Tiwary, one of the doyens of Indian cricket, retired from the game on February 19, 2024 after leading his state to a decisive victory over Bihar. Tiwary spent almost 19 years serving his state and inspite of being 38 years old, he led Bengal to the Ranji Trophy finals in 2022-23 season.

He is known for his aggressive batting style and has scored over 10,000 First Class runs. As captain, he continuously led by example, helping Bengal become a strong squad. He made 30 centuries with a best of 303* and 45 fifties from 2004-2024. Tiwary was unfortunate to play only 12 ODIs and 3 T20Is for India. He did make one ODI century, against West Indies in 2011.

3. Saurabh Tiwary

Saurabh Tiwary, long back seen as the next great thing in Indian cricket, announced his retirement from professional cricket. Tiwary made his First Class debut in the 2006–2007 Ranji Trophy season. He was a member of the Under-19 World Cup-winning side led by Virat Kohli in 2008.

He also represented the Mumbai Indians twice in the Indian Premier League, as well as the Delhi Daredevils, Rising Pune Supergiants, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He played 3 ODIs for India, scoring 49 runs. He retired from FC cricket after scoring 8076 runs in 116 matches with 22 centuries 34 fifties with the highest score of 238.

Tiwary also played 116 List-A games, scoring 4050 runs which includes 6 centuries and 27 fifties with a best score of 138*. In 181 T-20 games, Tiwary managed 3454 runs with 16 fifties to his name and best score of 69.

4. Varun Aaron (First class cricket only)

Considered to be one of the fastest bowlers India ever produced, Varun Aaron decided to call time on his First Class (FC) career after Ranji Trophy 2023-24 season. He took a total of 173 wickets in 66 FC matches, maintaining an average of 33.27. However, his body couldn’t take the toll of him bowling very fast as his career was hampered by frequent injuries, including stress fractures in his back and legs.

Aaron also played nine test matches for India, taking 18 wickets with a best of 3/97. Aaron also played nine ODIs, taking 11 wickets and a best of 3/24. He will remain one of the biggest what-ifs in Indian cricket as his pace was something the Indian team needed during an era where medium pacer bowlers were providing services to the national team.   

5. Dhawal Kulkarni

Dhawal Kulkarni, one of Mumbai-cricket’s stalwarts, will hang up his boots at the end of the Ranji Trophy 2023-24 knockout stages. Kulkarni’s experience is deemed so crucial to the team that the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) asked the medium-pacer to delay his retirement until the end of the season. Mumbai are set to face Baroda in the quarter-final from February 23 which will be hosted at the BKC ground in Mumbai.

Dhawal Kulkarni might not have been as pacy as Varun Aaron, but his ability to swing the ball both ways made him stand apart. He made his Mumbai FC debut in 2008 and went on to play 95 matches, taking 281 wickets. His best bowling in an innings was 7/50 and in a match was 10/78. He was fortunate enough to play for India as well, turning out in 12 ODIs and two T20Is, taking a total of 21 wickets with a best of 4/34 in ODIs and 2/23 in T20Is.

(List updated till 20th February, 2024)

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