Faiz Fazal, the former captain of Vidarbha, has retired from professional cricket

A Vidarbha veteran, he is the only Indian batsman to score fifty or more in his only ODI.

After Vidarbha's Ranji Trophy match against Haryana, Faiz Fazal, who scored a half-century in his only appearance for India, announced his retirement from professional cricket. He retires as Vidarbha's leading run-getter in first-class and List A cricket, having played over 100 red ball games for them.

Fazal wrote in an Instagram post on Sunday: 

"Tomorrow marks the end of an era as I step onto the Nagpur ground for the last time, where my journey in first-class cricket began 21 incredible years ago. It's been an unforgettable ride, filled with cherished memories that I'll hold dear forever."

The opening batsman, aged 38, has played 137 first-class matches, 113 List A games, and 66 T20 appearances. He captained Vidarbha in 53 first-class games, 36 List-A matches, and 27 T20 matches.

He made his international debut in an ODI against Zimbabwe, where he scored an unbeaten 55 as India secured a 10-wicket win. It would be his only international appearance.

At the time, Fazal was the first Indian player in 16 years to make his debut while still in his thirties. In his one and only ODI appearance, he is also the only Indian to have scored fifty or more. Overall, he joins Australia's Ashley Woodcock and England's Kim Barnett as only the third player to achieve the distinction. Although England's Ben Foakes and South Africa's Zubayr Hamza also scored half-centuries in their only ODI appearances, they remain active and could add more caps.

After scoring 151 on his debut in 2003, Fazal finished his first-class cricket career with 9184 runs, including 24 centuries and 39 fifties, despite registering low scores of 1 and 0 in his final appearance for Vidarbha. He also amassed 3641 List A runs with an average of 35.

In a related development, Saurabh Tiwary announced his retirement earlier this Ranji Trophy season, while Varun Aaron retired from red-ball cricket.