Dropped after taking 4 wickets vs England, 34-year-old Indian spinner with 542 first-class wickets announces retirement to play in overseas T20 leagues

34-year-old Indian spinner Shahbaz Nadeem has announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. Nadeem made his last appearance in Ranji Trophy 2023-24 for Bihar against Jharkhand where took three wickets. Nadeem now wants to play in overseas T20 leagues as he does not see himself making a comeback to India’s Test side. 
 

Nadeem’s short international career

The Bihar spinner made his Test debut in 2019 against South Africa, nearly a decade and a half after his maiden first-class appearance. He took two wickets each in both innings. The backup spinner did not play a Test till February 2021. Against England in Chennai, he took two wickets each in both innings. Joe Root's double century helped England beat India by 227 runs and Nadeem did not play another Test.
 

Nadeem’s impressive domestic cricket numbers

After Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja was preferred as left-arm spinner which meant rare chances for Nadeem who delivered exceptional performances for Bihar in the Ranji Trophy. He has 542 wickets from 140 games at an average of 28.96 including 28 five-wicket hauls. He was handy with the bat too scoring 2,784 runs including two centuries and eight half-centuries.
 

In List A cricket, he has 175 wickets from 134 games including four fifers. His best performance in List A was eight wickets for just 10 runs.
 

Nadeem’s IPL career

Nadeem has been picked by three Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises. He made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2011. Eight editions later, he was transferred to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). He made his last IPL appearance in the 2021 edition where he picked up one wicket and conceded 36 runs. He was associated with Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) but did not play a single game. In total, he has 48 wickets from 72 IPL games.
 

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