On Tuesday, 2nd February 2021, the Veteran Bengal pacer decided to bring down the curtains from any formats of cricket in a press conference. 

 

The 36-year old had lived a fairy tale journey from a native village Noichinpur to representing India. He had been featured in 13 ODIs and 9 T20s matches for India and took 12 and 17 wickets respectively. He also has 420 first-class wickets in his bag. Furthermore, he had the opportunity to play Indian Premier League (IPL), turning out for teams like Kolkata Knight Riders, Pune Warriors, Delhi Daredevils, Rising Pune Supergiants and Royal Challengers Bangalore. 

 

“Today, I am retiring from all formats of cricket. I have sent the mails to BCCI and GCA to this effect.” Dhinda said during the media interaction at Eden Gardens.

 

Dinda’s first debut was under M S Dhoni’s captaincy in the year 2009 during a match against Sri Lanka in Nagpur where he took 1/34 from three overs. Five months later, he made his ODI against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo, where he went wicketless for 49 runs in 7.2 overs.   

 

This season, Dinda moved to Goa and played in 3 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches but later he found that his body is not permitting him anymore. “I could have played on. But due to this lockdown maybe, I found myself struggling a bit. Hence, I thought it’s time to call it a day.” said the pacer on Tuesday. 

 

Reminiscing, he was appreciative about his experiences but however, lamented on the fact that he could not win the Ranji Trophy for Bengal. He stated that, “You don’t get everything in life, but yes that’s of course something I miss in spite of playing the final twice.” 

 

Ashok Dinda never wanted to remember the bitter experiences in his career, rather he was overwhelmed and presented his gratitude to those who helped him to grow. He thanked the BCCI and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). He presented his special gratitude to his former captain Sourav Ganguly.  “I would like to say special thanks to Sourav Ganguly.I remember in 2005 – 2006, Sourav Ganguly picked me in the 16-member team, I debuted against Maharashtra. I am forever in debt to Dada, he always supported me. I have decided to call time my career in Bengal.” he explained.

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