Team India’s first-ever player from Jammu & Kashmir, Parvez Rasool, announces retirement

Parvez Rasool, who played one ODI and one T20I for India, announced his retirement from all formats of the game. He etched his name in history books in 2014 when he made his international debut, becoming the first cricketer from Jammu and Kashmir to play for India.

However, Rasool has decided to hang up his boots at the age of 36 after being overlooked from the J&K setup for the last couple of years.

According to the Times of India, after moving on from the game, his focus is on coaching, and has even completed level 2 certification course from the CoE.

“Yes, I’ve retired from cricket. Obviously, playing for India was the proudest moment of my life. Coming from J&K, which wasn’t known much for cricket, I went on to win the Lala Amarnath Trophy for the best all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy on two occasions (in 2013-14 and 2017-18), and became the first from my region to play for India and in the IPL. I feel nice to have contributed to the game,” Rasool told TOI.

Rasool played an ODI in 2014 and a T20I in 2017. Despite consistent showings in domestic cricket, the spin-bowling all-rounder didn’t get too many chances to represent the Men in Blue. He played 95 first-class matches, 164 List A games, and 71 T20s. The Bijbehara-born aggregated 10,470 runs and picked up 633 wickets.

Rasool to focus on coaching

Rasool was proud of how J&K developed as a cricket team during his time as an active cricket. They reached the quarters twice under his astute leadership. However, Rasool’s biggest regret is not being able to represent India in Test cricket despite picking up a seven-for for Board President’s XI against Australia in 2013.

“Definitely, that regret is there. I played two white-ball matches for India, but I wanted to play Test cricket, especially after I took seven for 45 for Board President’s XI against Australia (in Chennai, February 2013). However, this is destiny. You try hard to do well. Thanks to the Almighty, I have a tremendous record for J&K with bat and ball. I’ve scored 10,470 runs and taken more than 623 wickets across all formats in my career. As I said, I’m now looking forward to my new role in coaching,” Rasool concluded.

Rasool will be able to help budding cricketers in J&K develop by sharing his experiences and transferring his knowledge of the game to them.

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