Virender Sehwag retires from international cricket

The decision comes after Sehwag signed up to play in the next year's Masters Champions League 2020

Think of the top 5 destructive batsmen of all time. Virender Sehwag will surely make the list. Think of the top 5 opening batsmen of the modern era. Virender Sehwag will feature in that list, too. Think of the fiercest square cutter of all time. Virender Sehwag will likely top that list.

The Nawab of Najafgarh, as the cricketer is affectionately known, on Tuesday announced his retirement from international cricket and the Indian Premier League, bringing an end to an illustrious career spanning more than a decade.

Sehwag, celebrating his 37th birthday today, had already hinted at his imminent retirement at a function in Dubai yesterday; like his batting style, he didn't take much time to make his intentions known. 

"I hereby retire from all forms of international cricket and from the Indian Premier League," Sehwag tweeted.

The flamboyant opener's decision comes barely a few days after contemporary Zaheer Khan decided to call time on his career. Sehwag has not been in the Indian team since 2013 and was widely considered out of the reckoning too.

However, the Delhi-born will play in the Masters Champions League (MCL), which he launched in Dubai on Monday with other stars like Brian Lara, Graeme Smith and Michael Vaughan -- a tournament to be held early next year for retired cricketers.

Sehwag last represented India in the Test series against Australia in March 2013 and his spot was subsequently filled by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay following a string of low scores.

A few years back, Sehwag switched his allegiance from Delhi to Haryana in the Ranji Trophy. The swashbuckling right-hander represented Delhi for 18 seasons since 1997-98.

In a career spanning over 15 years in international cricket, Sehwag featured in 104 Tests and scored 8,586 runs at an average of 49.34. It was in Tests that Sehwag went on to establish himself as one of the very best in the game. He is still the only Indian willower to have a triple century in his name, having done so twice against Pakistan (309 in Multan) and South Africa (319 in Chennai).  He hit 23 centuries -- that's roughly one century every four Tests -- and 32 half-centuries.

In 251 One-Day Internationals (ODI), he amassed 8,273 runs at an average of 35.05 and scored 15 hundreds apart from hitting 38 fifties.

In 19 Twenty20 internationals, he managed 394 runs with two half-centuries.

He has been a part of two World Cup winning teams under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leadership --- 2007 World T20 in South Africa and the ICC ODI World Cup in India.

Meanwhile, he tweeted a message, where he thanked his fans and those who helped in his glorious career of more than a decade.