Kapali retires from first-class cricket

Bangladesh cricketer Alok Kapali announced his retirement from first-class cricket on Monday through a Facebook post.

The all-rounder said that he wanted to make way for younger players in the first-class circuit, and intended to spend more time with his family.

“I have decided to retire from first-class cricket to make way for young players to come through and to give more time to my family,” he posted on Facebook.

The 38-year-old will however continue to play in the limited-overs competition.

The all-rounder has 9138 runs in first-class cricket in 172 matches, averaging 33.84. He also has 217 wickets.

The right-handed batsman amassed 1876 runs in 93 matches across all three formats for Bangladesh since making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2002.

In ODIs, he managed 1235 runs averaging 19.60, including five fifties and one century. With two fifties, he scored 584 Test runs at an average of 17.69, and in seven T20Is, he scored 57 runs.

He was also very nifty with his leg-breaks, scalping 32 wickets across the three formats, and boasts a Test hat-trick to his name.

With seven fifties to his name, Kapali’s most memorable innings came against India in the Asia Cup in 2008, where he scored 115, his only century for Bangladesh.

Kapali played his last match for Bangladesh in 2011 against Pakistan in Chattogram.