MUMBAI: Parvez Rasool, the first player from Jammu & Kashmir to represent India in international cricket and also the first from the region to feature in the IPL, on Saturday retired from all formats of the game.In an epic 17-year career, during which he played first-class cricket for 15 seasons (he was out of the J&K team for the last two seasons), Rasool, an off-spinning all-rounder, claimed 352 wickets at 27.21 in 95 matches and amassed 5,648 runs at 38.95, with 16 hundreds and 22 fifties. The 36-year-old, who hails from Bijbehara in Kashmir, was one of the most consistent performers at the domestic level, though his international career did not last beyond two games for India — a solitary T20I (vs England in Kanpur in January 2017) and one ODI (against Bangladesh in June 2014).“Yes, I’ve retired from cricket. Obviously, playing for India was the proudest moment of my life. Coming from J&K, which wasn’t known much for cricket, I went on to win the Lala Amarnath Trophy for the best all-rounder in the Ranji Trophy on two occasions (in 2013-14 and 2017-18), and became the first from my region to play for India and in the IPL. I feel nice to have contributed to the game,” Rasool told TOI.He is now serious about pursuing a career in cricket coaching. “Moving forward, I’ve cleared my Level-II (coaching certificate from the BCCI Centre of Excellence). I want to do full-time coaching, contribute to Indian cricket and pass on what I’ve learnt from my experience to young cricketers. I want the youngsters to get a chance. You have to retire at some point,” he said.Talking about how he made a difference in inspiring J&K cricketers — their team beat Mumbai last season in the Ranji Trophy and recently lost to the domestic giants by just 35 runs — Rasool said, “When I started playing cricket, no one knew about J&K cricket. Thanks to the Almighty, we qualified twice for the quarterfinals of the Ranji Trophy under my captaincy. In fact, I captained J&K for six consecutive years. I’m so happy to see that today, our boys look to compete in domestic cricket, while earlier they would just come to participate,” Rasool said.He doesn’t regret the fact that he couldn’t play for J&K in the last two seasons. “All these things happen. Going forward, I’m looking to contribute by coaching and playing a bit of cricket (in overseas T20 leagues).”During his T20I debut, Rasool was at the centre of a controversy when a video grab showed him chewing gum while the national anthem was being played before the match. Clarifying the incident, Rasool said: “I was part of the India squad for eight matches before that — five games in Zimbabwe and three against Bangladesh. I didn’t do that deliberately. Someone who comes from a relatively smaller cricketing region knows how much hard work it takes to play for India one day. Why would anyone do that kind of thing intentionally to destroy his career? That would be madness.”Back in 2012-13, Rasool was the standout performer for J&K as he ended the season with 594 runs and 33 wickets, which earned him a place in the Indian team and a contract with the now-defunct IPL franchise Pune Warriors, led by former India captain Sourav Ganguly.Rasool regrets that he couldn’t play more for India. “Definitely, that regret is there. I played two white-ball matches for India, but I wanted to play Test cricket, especially after I took seven for 45 for Board President’s XI against Australia (in Chennai, February 2013). However, this is destiny. You try hard to do well. Thanks to the Almighty, I have a tremendous record for J&K with bat and ball. I’ve scored 10,470 runs and taken more than 623 wickets across all formats in my career. As I said, I’m now looking forward to my new role in coaching,” Rasool concluded.Will he want to coach J&K? “If I get a chance, definitely,” he said.
