Former Delhi batter Punit Bisht called time on his illustrious career which spanned over 17 years. The 37-year-old decided to hang up his boots on Wednesday, confirmed the development.
For the unversed, Bisht was the batsman who partnered a young Virat Kohli when the latter came out to bat during a Ranji Trophy match after the demise of his father.
Kohli, then still a 17-year-old had lost his father Prem, who was a lawyer by profession. Virat’s dad had suffered a brain stroke in the middle of the night, and Kohli still decided to come out to bat with Bisht by his side as the two had returned unbeaten against Karnataka back in 2006.
Punit will also be fondly remembered for his blistering knock of 146 runs in just 51 balls including six fours and 17 sixes, while captaining Meghalaya to a massive 130-run win over Mizoram in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament in 2021.
The veteran played a total of 272 matches across the three formats in his stellar career. He won the Ranji Trophy with Delhi in 2007-08 and has also represented Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya.
Talking about Bisht’s career, he played 103 First-Class games, scoring 5231 runs including 10 hundreds as well as a career high individual score of 343. The wicketkeeper batter also completed 299 catches and 19 stumpings.
In List A cricket, he amassed 103 appearances, smashing 2924 runs with six hundreds and 17 fifties.
Talking about his retirement, Bisht said, “I thought this is the best time to call it quits from competitive cricket. I have played 100-plus games across both First-Class and List A format and nearly 275 (272) competitive games if you take Mushtaq Ali T20 into account. There is nothing more to achieve as a player and I believe this is the right time to bid adieu.”
“The most memorable moment will remain winning the Ranji Trophy. I would like to thank BCCI, DDCA, JKCA and Meghalaya CA for being a part of this journey,” he added.
After his retirement, the right-handed batter hopes to carve out a career in coaching as he has already completed his BCCI-NCA Level II coaching course and is set to pursue the Level III exam.
Comments
0 comment