Barinder Sran announces international and domestic retirement

NewsSran, 31, represented India in six ODIs and two T20Is between January and June 2016

Barinder Sran after getting his cap from MS Dhoni, in January 2016  •  Getty Images

Barinder Sran, the left-arm fast bowler, has announced his retirement from international and domestic cricket. Sran, 31, represented India in six ODIs and two T20Is between January and June 2016, but had been out of the selection reckoning since then.

“As I officially hang up my cricket boots, I look back at my journey with a heart full of gratitude,” Sran wrote on Instagram. “Cricket has gifted me innumerable and incredible experiences. Fast bowling soon became my lucky charm and opened doors to represent prestigious IPL franchises, ultimately culminating in the highest honor of representing India in 2016.

“Even though my international career was brief, the memories created will be forever cherished. I am eternally grateful to the almighty for getting me the right coaches and management, who have supported me throughout my journey.”

Sran, the son of a farmer, took to cricket after seeing a Kings XI Punjab advertisement calling youngsters to take part in a trial, having previously trained as a boxer at the Bhiwani Boxing Club in Haryana.

He didn’t get an IPL contract, but a boy who had till then only played village cricket with a tennis ball got through to the Kings Cup and became one among the top 35-40 uncapped cricketers in Punjab. Eventually, he was picked up by Rajasthan Royals at the 2015 IPL auction, but his biggest highlight would come a year later, when he was picked for the Indian ODI team to play in Australia, with only eight List A matches under his belt at the time. He made his ODI debut under MS Dhoni’s captaincy on January 12, taking 3 for 56 in Perth.

Sran was also selected in the squad for the white-ball tour of Zimbabwe in June 2016, where he made his T20I debut. He put in a Player-of-the-Match performance in the second game in Harare, taking 4 for 10.

Overall, Sran played 18 first-class, 31 List-A, and 48 T20 matches between 2011 and 2021. In the IPL, he represented Royals, Kings XI, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians, and was also a net bowler for Gujarat Titans.

Sran last played a competitive match in February 2021, for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy against Madhya Pradesh.