London, Aug 7: Indian middle-order batsman Rahul Dravid, who was recalled to the ODI squad, announced his retirement from the limited overs formats at the end of the England series.
He will, however, be available for both, the Twenty20 International and ODIs in England, which will be his last limited-overs games.
Dravid, 38, is the seventh highest run-getter in ODIs, with 10,765 runs in 339 matches and was the top run-scorer in the 1999 World Cup. He hasn't been a regular in the Indian one-day side since late 2007, a couple of months after he reached his career-high ICC ranking of No. 5, though he made a brief comeback during the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa.
He recently became the second highest run-getter in Tests, and has hit good form over the past couple of months, scoring three centuries in five Tests to end a relatively lean run in the last couple of years.
Excerpts from Dravid’s statement:
‘I am honoured to be selected in the Indian ODI team […] I had not been picked for the last two years, so obviously I was a little surprised [at Saturday’s selection]. To be honest, as I was not being picked, I had not informed the selectors or the Board that my desire was to solely focus on Test cricket […] I would like to announce my retirement from One Day Internationals and T20 cricket at the end of the series in England […] I will concentrate on Test cricket […] I am committed to, as always, giving my best [to] the Indian team.’
