Sharath retires from first-class cricket

S Sharath at his last first-class game © Cricinfo Ltd

S Sharath, the Tamil Nadu batsman, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. His career spanned 15 years and he remains the only Tamil Nadu player to have played 100 Ranji matches.

"My not playing for India, and the fact that Tamil Nadu did not win a Ranji Trophy title in my time, remain my biggest disappointments," said Sharath. "The hard work factor was missing during the time I played. Teams like Bombay are not complacent whereas Tamil Nadu had that laidback culture. But it is changing."

Sharath scored 8390 runs in 134 first-class matches with 27 hundreds and an average of just under 52. In 113 List A matches, he scored 3226 runs and averaged nearly 44.

WV Raman, the Tamil Nadu coach, compared Sharath to Ajay Sharma, the former Delhi and India player. "They were both consistent and had a huge appetite for runs. The one thing about Sharath was that he underestimated his own self, and maybe kept it too simple. He was a day-in day-out cricketer and his slot can't be filled overnight."

However, in spite of his impressive domestic record, the closest Sharath came to playing for India was a solitary match for Board President's XI against Sri Lanka and one match for India A.