BHOPAL, 19 February 2006 — Indian leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani, who made a big bang entry into Test cricket capturing 16 wickets against the mighty West Indies at Madras 18 years ago, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket.

The Gorakhpur-born leggie, who followed his splendid debut with 20 more wickets in the next three Tests, saw his career go downhill due to various factors and was left to play domestic cricket during the last few years. Hirwani went to Indore as an overweight 16-year-old in 1983-84 vowing to return to his native Uttar Pradesh only after having played in the Ranji trophy.

Hirwani sought out Sanjay Jagdale (now a national selector) and under his guidance began developing his bowling skills. Hiru, as he is known to his friends, lost weight and gained in skills as he went on to represent Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji trophy in 1983-84 (five wickets on debut against Rajasthan).

Following his dream debut, Hirwani was unable to repeat his performance in the overseas tours as a result of which he found himself in and out of the national team. Left to play in the domestic tournament, Hirwani found his place being taken away by other spinners.

Hirwani played a total of 17 Tests and claimed 66 wickets, while in ODIs, he claimed 23 wickets in 18 matches. In the first-class cricket, Hirwani played 167 matches and claimed 732 wickets.

Suffering from a combination of slump in form and lack of support from the selectors because of playing for a second-string side like Madhya Pradesh, he shifted base to Bengal. Hirwani returned to Madhya Pradesh later and continued to serve the state in the Ranji trophy capturing 442 wickets — the third highest haul in Ranji trophy. After 23 years of having served the game, Hirwani on Sunday had no remorse or ill will for anyone. “No regrets on being dropped or not being picked as the team selection depends on the requirements of the team,” he told reporters.

Hirwani, who is employed with Air-India, looking back at his playing days feels he could have improved on his batting. He also admitted that he may not have been a great fielder especially for the limited-over version of the game but considered himself good enough for the five-day variety.

Talking about spin bowling, Hirwani said that there is no dearth of talented spin bowlers in the country.