Afghan batter Noor Ali Zadran retires from international cricket

New Delhi [India], March 7 (ANI): Veteran Afghanistan batter Noor Ali Zadran on Thursday announced his retirement from international cricket.
After playing two Test matches, 51 ODIs and 23 T20Is, the 35-year-old decided to retire. Noor's first international appearance came in 2009 against Scotland in a 50-over match. His final game for Afghanistan was the one-off Test against Ireland earlier in March, where Noor Ali Zadran's side suffered a 6-wicket loss.

Noor made 1,216 runs at an average of 24.81 in ODIs, and 597 runs at 27.13 in the 20-over format.
At the Asian Games in October 2023, he was called back into the Afghanistan side for the T20Is where he scored 51 and 39 runs against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively. Noor's side beat both teams on their way to the final against India in the tournament. However, it ended in 'no result' as rain played a spoilsport, and later Team India were awarded the gold medal for being the higher-ranked team.
Noor was also a part of the Afghan side when they played their maiden ODI match in 2009 against Scotland. During that game, the veteran batter played the role of an opening batter and scored 45 runs from 28 balls and helped his side clinch an 89-run win over the Scottish side.
Noor played his first T20I in February 2010 against Canada, where his side sealed a 5-wicket win. His half-century against India during the T20 World Cup in 2010, is one of the main highlights of Noor's cricket career. (ANI)