South Africa’s tearaway pacer Shabnim Ismail has announced retirement from international cricket. Ismail who broke the record for fastest ball women's cricket (recorded history) clocking at 128 kmph (80mph) in the women's T20 World Cup 2023 semi final has cited fitness and need to spend time with family as main reasons behind her decision.
Ismail retired as the second-highest wicket-taker in ODIs. She has 191 wickets from 127 ODIs at an average of 19.95 including two fifers. She was only behind legendary Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami who has 255 wickets in the format. In T20I cricket, she is fourth-highest wicket-taker. She has 123 wickets from 113 games at an average of 18.62 including two fifers.
“After 16 years proudly representing my country, I have come to the difficult decision to retire from international cricket and move on to the next chapter of my life,” Ismail said in a statement on May 3.
“As any athlete knows, training and competing at your best requires much sacrifice and dedication, and I now find myself wanting to spend more time with my family, particularly my siblings and parents as they get older, They have always been my biggest support and I want to be able to be there for them in the way they have been there for me over the past 16 years.
“I really believe that reducing the amount of cricket I play will enable me to do this, and playing in global leagues is the only way I see to be able to fit in both family and cricket,” she added.
The 34-year-old will continue to play in T20 tournaments around the world. In the inaugural edition of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023, she represented UP Warriorz. She took three wickets from three matches she played in WPL 2023 for the Alyssa Healy-led side. She was picked for Rs 1 crore after bidding war for Delhi Capitals.
“I look forward to continuing to perform at the highest level over the next few years across various T20 competitions across the globe,” the veteran South African bowler concluded.
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