Hamilton Masakadza to retire from international cricket after T20I tri-series

One of Zimbabwe’s leading batsmen and the former captain, Hamilton Masakadza has announced his retirement plan from international cricket on 3rd September (Thursday). The 36-year old shall hang his boots after the upcoming T20I tri-series in Bangladesh. Masakadza, who made his debut in 2001 as a schoolboy, represented the national side in 38 Tests, 209 ODIs and 62 T20Is. He amassed more than 9000 international runs which include 10 centuries.

An encouraging start

In February 2000, Masakadza at the age of 16 became the first black Zimbabwean, and youngest to score a first-class century. He made his Test debut in July 2001, against the West Indies in Harare. In his team’s second innings, he made 119, thus becoming – at the age of 17 years and 354 days – the youngest player to score a century on Test debut. Bangladesh’s Mohammad Ashraful later broke the record.

ODI records

Masakadza took a brief pause from his professional cricket career to study at the University of the Free State. He returned to the national team in late 2004 following the rebel crisis and has been a regular presence since. Shining in the 50-over format, Masakadza registered scores of 156 and 178 not out in a home ODI series against Kenya in 2009 – thus becoming the first Zimbabwean to make two scores of 150 or more in ODIs, and the first cricketer to make two such scores in the same series. He scored 467 runs in the five-match series which remained a world record for nine years.

The legacy

With 1529 runs in T20Is, Masakadza shall retire as the highest run-getter in the shortest format for Zimbabwe. Gauging the current Zimbabwean situation, it is likely to remain that way for a long time. His 5658 runs in ODIs make him fourth on the nation’s all-time list. He is also fourth in the longest format with 2223 career runs. Masakadza’s younger brothers, Shingi and Wellington, both represented Zimbabwe at the international level, making them a cricketing family.

JUST IN: Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza, who made his international debut back in 2001, has announced he will retire from international cricket after his side’s upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh and Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/IiunhAk1Sa

— ICC (@ICC) September 3, 2019