Veteran Rajasthan pacer Pankaj Singh retires from cricket at 36

Pankaj Singh, who was once one of the brightest fast-bowling talents in India, has announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on July 10, 2021, with immediate effect. The right-arm pacer wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Rajasthan Cricket Association (RCA) in Jaipur announcing his retirement and expressing his gratitude towards his home board. 

The 36-year-old was a loyal servant of Rajasthan Cricket and has taken it to several heights during his illustrious career. He broke into recognition with a reputation of being tall and having an ability to produce genuine pace with the ball. His height gave him a huge advantage as he scaled up from U-19 cricket and made his first-class debut for Rajasthan in 2004. 

His impressive performances saw him even appear for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2008 season. Later on, he had a stint with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, his IPL career never really took off. But his performances for India A and Rajasthan in Ranji Trophy cricket had made him a recurring feature in the India probable. He was even called up for the 2007-08 Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. However, he didn’t get his maiden cap. 

 

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Pankaj Singh’s short-lived international career

In 2010, he finally made his debut for India and played in an ODI match against Sri Lanka during a tri-series match in Zimbabwe, where a lot of young players were given opportunities with the senior pros being rested. Unfortunately, that remained his only ODI cap ever. After this, it took another four years to play for the Indian team. 

On the back of his performances in Ranji Trophy cricket, he was picked for the England tour of 2014. With Ishant Sharma being injured, Pankaj Singh made his Test debut in Southampton in the third Test of the series. Singh played another Test, the following one in Manchester, when he took two wickets, the first of which came with the 416th delivery of his Test career. He never played any form of cricket for the national team after that. 

However, in the domestic circuit, he established himself as a leading bowler season after season, showing how well he can play. For the 2018-19 season, he shifted to Puducherry where he enjoyed a lot of success. In December 2018, he became the first seamer to take 400 wickets in Ranji Trophy cricket. He played 117 first-class matches, picking up 472 wickets at an average of 23.76. He also has 118 wickets at an average of 26.99 in 79 List A games.