Virat Kohli’s World Cup teammate bids goodbye to Indian cricket | WATCH
New Delhi: Fast bowler Siddarth Kaul who was part of Virat Kohli-led Under 19 World Cup has announced his retirement from Indian cricket after nearly six years of playing for India. However, the doors are still open for him to play abroad. The 34-year-old bowler played three T20Is and three ODIs for India between June 2018 and February 2019.
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In the 2023-24 season, Kaul helped Punjab win its first Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he took 16 wickets in 10 matches and was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy too, he took the most wickets for Punjab with 19 wickets in six matches.
Recently, Kaul played the first leg of the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season for Punjab, where he could not take any wickets in two matches. In his career spanning 17 years, he has 297 wickets in 88 first-class matches at an average of 26.77. Apart from this, he has 199 wickets at an average of 24.30 and 182 wickets in T20s at an economy of 7.67.
Kaul made his first-class debut for Punjab at the age of 17 and a year later he came into the limelight when he was part of Virat Kohli’s Under-19 World Cup-winning team. However, several back injuries set him back for five years.
Kaul could play only six domestic matches across all formats between December 2007 and February 2012. When he returned, he became a teammate of Punjab’s emerging bowlers Manpreet Goni, Sandeep Sharma and Barinder Sran.
Within a few years, Kaul’s wicket-taking ability and death-over bowling skills made him a key member of Punjab’s white-ball team. He is the leading wicket-taker for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (155 wickets) and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (120).
The turning point in Kaul’s career came in 2018 when he got a T20I cap for the Ireland tour after consistently performing well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. In 2017, he took 16 wickets in 10 matches, and in 2018, he took the joint-highest 21 wickets for SRH. SRH were also runners-up that season.
Apart from SRH, Kaul also played for Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore.