Siddarth Kaul announces retirement from Indian cricket

The 34-year-old Indian right-arm pacer Siddarth Kaul has officially announced his retirement from all formats of cricket. He played six limited-overs matches for the national team.

Siddarth Kaul was a star in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008

Siddarth Kaul, the son of former Jammu and Kashmir cricketer Tej Kaul, started playing cricket at the age of six. Kaul was a key member of the India U19 team during the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2008 in Malaysia, where the Virat Kohli-led Indian team won the trophy. In that tournament, Kaul took ten wickets in five innings and finished as India’s joint-leading wicket-taker in that tournament. 

In the rain-curtailed final match of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, Kaul finished with the bowling figures of 5-0-26-2. Kaul delivered the final over of the match, where South Africa U19 required 19 runs to win that final and had four wickets in hand. Kaul picked two wickets in that final over and conceded only six runs, as India U19 won that final by 12 runs in the D/L method.

However, before the U19 World Cup, Kaul made his debut in first-class cricket for Punjab. On his first-class debut, Kaul recorded a five-wicket haul in the first innings as he had the bowling figures of 23-6-79-5 against Orissa. 

IPL career 

Kaul played IPL for now-defunct Deccan Chargers, SunRisers Hyderabad, and Royal Challengers Bangalore. In 55 IPL matches, Kaul took 58 wickets, while his last IPL match was for RCB in 2022. 

In the IPL 2017, Kaul took 16 wickets in ten games. In the next season, Kaul took 21 wickets in 17 games and finished as the joint-second most wicket-taker in the tournament.  

International career

Due to his consistent performances, Kaul ultimately made his international debut in the 2018 Dublin T20I against Ireland in June. In the next month, he made his ODI debut in the England tour. In his first T20I, Kaul had the bowling figures of 2-0-4-1.  

In his short international career, Kaul picked up four wickets in three T20Is and none in his three ODIs. His last international match was the 2019 Bengaluru T20I against Australia. 

In his career, Kaul took 297 wickets in 88 first-class matches, 199 wickets in 111 List A games, and 182 wickets in 145 T20s. He finished as a legendary bowler for Punjab as he ended as the leading wicket-taker for Punjab in all three formats (263 first-class wickets, 155 List A wickets, and 120 T20 wickets).

When I was a child playing cricket in the fields in Punjab, I had one dream. A dream to represent my country. In 2018, by Gods grace, I received my India Cap Number 75 in the T20i team and Cap Number 221 in the ODI team.

The time has now come to call time on my career in India… pic.twitter.com/XiNQ0NBqou

— Siddharthh Kaul (@iamsidkaul) November 28, 2024