Following his team's failure to go to the Ranji Trophy 2024–25 semifinals, veteran Saurashtra batter and former Kolkata Knight Riders' wicket-keeper Sheldon Jackson announced his retirement from professional cricket. Jackson made the decision after Saurashtra's loss against Gujarat by an innings and 98 runs in the first-class tournament quarterfinal at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot, on February 11 (Tuesday).
Jackson's astonishing numbers
Jackson's performances were not the finest as he could only score 14 and 27. The 38-year-old retired with 7283 runs at an average of 45.80 from 106 games, including 39 half-centuries and 21 hundreds. Jackson's career lasted more than 14 years after he made his debut against Raiways in 2011. After being identified by former Bengal cricketer Joydeep Mukherjee, Jackson initially gained notoriety. Additionally, he played for the Indian Premier League's (IPL) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
During the 2012–13 Ranji season, he scored four fifties and three hundreds, including back-to-back hundreds against Karnataka and Punjab in the quarterfinal and semi-final. He was instrumental in Saurashtra's historic first-ever qualifying for the final.
Veteran star retires
Jackson announced the end of his limited-overs career earlier this year. He shifted his focus away from white-ball cricket during Saurashtra's Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign. After missing all of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy matches for his home team, Jackson began to consider retirement.
"It'd been at the back of my mind from even before the tournament and I kept taking it game by game, but before the Punjab match, I told the team, but they wanted me to bow out on the field. It was a very gracious move from them, and I'm really thankful for that gesture,” Jackson had told ESPNcricinfo.
Across 86 List A matches and 84 T20s, Jackson has amassed 2792 and 1812 runs respectively. This also includes 10 centuries and 25 fifties.