Former India opener Wasim Jaffer says goodbye to cricket

The 42-year-old Jaffer, who had made his first-class debut in 1996-97, played 31 Tests and scored 1,944 runs with an average of 34.11. He has five hundreds and 11 fifties in the longest format, with 212 as his highest score.

Jaffer, who played his last match for India in 2008 against South Africa, is also the highest run-scorer in the history of Ranji Trophy, scoring 19,410 runs from 260 matches. He also represented India in 2 ODIs.

"First of all, I would like to thank The Almighty Allah, who gave me the talent to play this beautiful game. I'd like to also thank my family - my parents and brothers for encouraging me to pursue the sport as a profession and my wife, who left a cosy life of England to create a lovely home for our children and me," he said in a statement.

"A special thanks to all my coaches, right from my school days to professional cricket, for helping me polish my skills. A heartfelt thanks to the selectors who showed faith in me," added Jaffer.

The veteran opener, who made his Test and ODI debut against South Africa in 2006, is mostly remembered for his feats in domestic cricket, particularly the Ranji Trophy. He became the first batsman to score 12,000 runs in Ranji Trophy.

The right-handed batsman played for Mumbai for most part of his career and then also represented Vidarbha.

Wasim Jaffer led Mumbai to its 38th and 39th Ranji title. Last year, he became the first player in Indian cricket to feature in 150 Ranji matches.

"My gratitude to all the captains I played under and all my colleagues from whom I learnt so much about the game and shared some lifelong memories. I would also like to thank all the support staff who were a constant pillar of support in my long journey," said the Mumbaikar.

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