Rubel Hossain retires from Tests 'to provide young pacers more opportunities'
Rubel Hossain has decided to hang his boots in the game's longest format after a successful career spanning over a decade representing Bangladesh. He stated it was time to give youngsters opportunities in order to strengthen the country's future but confirmed his availability in white-ball formats.
Bangladesh pacer Rubel Hossain has called it quits in red-ball cricket at the age of 32 through a social media post on Monday. The veteran made his Test debut 13 years ago against the West Indies and has since represented Bangladesh 27 times wearing the all-whites, scalping 36 wickets at an average of 76.77. His moment of glory in the game's longest format came in an encounter in New Zealand in 2010 when he dismissed five Kiwi batsmen in an innings to return with career-best figures of 5/166.
The right-arm fast has cited the young pacers waiting in the wings as the reason for his decision stating their time has come to play on the big stage as the old guard wanes. He last played for Bangladesh with the red ball in 2020, picking up three wickets in a losing cause against Pakistan.
"Assalamualaikom. I wanted to inform an issue. I have officially submitted a letter to the Bangladesh Cricket Board and decided to retire from Test cricket," wrote Rubel on his verified Facebook account.
"The longer version of cricket plays a big role in strengthening the national team's pipeline. I think our pipeline will strengthen more if the young pacers get more opportunities. In order to provide the youngsters more opportunities in the red-ball format, I have decided to retire from Test cricket. I was able to able to play 27 Tests for Bangladesh, which is a big achievement for me," he added.
Hossain has had a much more successful career in the limited-over formats of cricket even though presently he is not a part of the Bangladesh setup in any format. The Khulna-born quick has 104 ODI and 28 T20I caps to his name, tallying a total of 157 wickets while averaging in the low 30s. In comparison, Hossain's first-class record reads 97 wickets in 60 matches at an average of 54.03 and an economy of 3.86. In fact, he holds the undesirable record of having the third worst economy of a bowler in the history of Tests with 3.92. Nevertheless, Rubel has confirmed he will continue to ply his trade in white-ball cricket and hopes for a return to the national side.
"Those who have helped me during my journey with the red ball cricket, I am grateful to all of them and I hope I will get your support in the coming days as well. I may have retired from Test cricket but I believe I still have a lot to give in the ODI and T20I formats for Bangladesh. I will continue playing in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL), the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) along with the other white-ball tournaments. Pray for me so that I can gift you with colourful dreams in white-ball formats," he concluded.
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