Stats: Players with a 10-wicket match haul in career's last Test

Pragyan Ojha formally announced his retirement from international cricket and as well as first-class cricket through a letter on Twitter. His last appearance in Indian colours was against West Indies in the 2013 Wankhede Test which was marked to be Sachin Tendulkar’s historic 200th Test and also his farewell International game. Pragyan last played any professional match was in 2018-19 domestic season where he led Bihar team. He represented Hyderabad and Bengal in domestic cricket before moving to Bihar.

Ojha played a total of 24 Test matches picking up 113 wickets with help of seven 5-wicket hauls. The left-arm spinner wasn’t considered for overseas tours as all the 24 matches he played in his career were in the sub-continent including 20 of them in India. Ojha was not considered for the overseas cycle between 2013 and 2015.

In the same period, he was banned from bowling as he was possessing an illegal action. He did return with a remodelled action but couldn’t catch the eye of selectors.

Pragyan Ojha’s career-best performance came in what turned out to be his last Test match. He took 5-wicket hauls in both innings of the Test against West Indies and completed his only 10-wicket Test match haul. He is now one of the nine players to claim 10 wickets in career’s last Test match. All the previous eight players are either from Australia or England. No Indian before Ojha claimed more than seven wickets in their career’s last Test match.

Sydney Barnes holds the record for best bowling figures in farewell Test as he claimed 14 wickets for 144 runs in the 1914 Test against South Africa. JJ Ferris and Clarrie Grimmett took 13 wickets apiece against South Africa in 1892 and 1936 respectively. Charles Marriott’s 11/96 in 1933 against West Indies is one of the four bowling figures in career’s last Test match which are better than that of Ojha’s 10/89. Pragyan Ojha is also one of the four Indians to have claimed a 5-wicket haul in the farewell Test match.

Ojha, however, took 5-fers in both innings. Mohammad Nissar, who took a 5-wicket haul in India’s first-ever Test, also took a 5-fer in his last Test match. No Indian other than Nissar has picked up a 5-wicket haul in career’s first and last Test match. Vivek Razdan in 1989 and Zaheer Khan in 2014 are the other Indians to have signed off with a 5-wicket haul in the last Test. While Ojha accomplished this feat Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell Test, Razdan got it during Sachin’s debut series.

(Stats as on February 21, 2020)