Veteran left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who has represented India in all the formats has announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket with immediate effect. During his prime, Ojha was at his particular best, especially in red-ball cricket, before falling out of favour with the emergence of Ravindra Jadeja.
Ojha has represented India in 24 Tests, 18 ODIs, and six T20I since making his debut in 2008. Over the years, Pragyan Ojha has scalped 144 international wickets with seven five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. He played a key during India's 100th Test win which came against Sri Lanka in Kanpur, which was also his debut game. Ojha replaced Amit Mishra in the playing XI and returned with four wickets.
He has also been a stalwart in domestic cricket playing for Hyderabad in domestic cricket over a decade before moving to Bengal and Bihar. In 108 first-class games, the left-arm spinner has picked 424 wickets with the best bowling figures of seven for 58.
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The 33-year-old also had a good time playing in the Indian Premier League. He was a part of the Deccan Chargers which lifted the prestigious title in 2009 and won the Purple Cap for the most number of wickets in a single season in 2010. He finished with 21 wickets from 16 games at an economy rate of under 7.30 before moving to Mumbai Indians. He was also successful for Mumbai playing key roles in many matches.
The veteran Pragyan Ojha took to social media site Instagram to announce his retirement and penned a letter showing his gratitude to one and all. Hailing from Bhubaneshwar, Ojha now wants to concentrate on the second phase of his life with his son and family.
"It’s time I move on to the next phase of my life. The love and support of each and every individual will always remain with me and motivate me all the time," Pragyan Ojha wrote on Instagram along with a statement.