Former Zimbabwe captain Chigumbura to retire from international cricket after Pakistan series

Rawalpindi: Former Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura will retire from international cricket after the conclusion of the ongoing T20 International series against Pakistan, his country’s cricket board said on Saturday. The veteran Zimbabwe all-rounder will bring the curtain down on a 16-year international career that began in 2004. The 34-year-old Chigumbura had featured in 14 Tests, 213 ODIs and 54 T20I matches before the start of his farewell series. He made his Zimbabwe debut in 2004. “Former @ZimCricketv captain Elton Chigumbura is set to retire from international cricket at the end of the current @TheRealPCB tour,” Zimbabwe Cricket said on its official Twitter handle. According to ZC, the all-rounder is retiring because “injuries had continued to take a toll on him as well as to pave the way for young blood in the national side”. The three-match T20I series ends on 10 November. Before the start of the first T20I against Pakistan, the all-rounder had amassed 5761 international runs and taken 138 wickets, including two hundreds and 26 half-centuries. He also led his side on 80 occasions on the international stage - 62 ODIs and 18 T20Is. He is only the second player from Zimbabwe to achieve a double of 4000 runs and 100 wickets in ODI cricket, after Grant Flower. Chigumbura played a vital role in his side’s famous victory over Australia in the 2007 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, in which he returned bowling figures of 3/20 from three overs. He also represented Zimbabwe in two editions of the U-19 Cricket World Cup, in 2002 and 2004, featured in the 2011 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and led his side in the 2015 edition of the tournament.