Bengal pacer Shib Shankar Paul quits cricket

Shib Shankar Paul with Ashok Dinda

Kolkata, June 27 (IANS) Bengal pacer Shib Shankar Paul on Monday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Paul first made his debut in 2000-01 in a Ranji Trophy game against Tripura at the Eden Gardens under the leadership of Devang Gandhi.

His last first class game was against Karnataka in Kolkata in the 2014-15 season, almost 14 years after his debut. On Monday, he hung up his boots after playing his last game for Kalighat club against Mohun Bagan in the final of the P. Sen Trophy.

"Every good thing must come to an end. I have decided to quit all forms of cricket," Paul told reporters here.

Asked what his plans are after retirement, the 34-year-old said: "I want to want to go into coaching. I am also planning to open an academy for pacers."

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly and Bengal cricketers, including the likes of Manoj Tiwary and Wriddhiman Saha, were present at the event.

Paul picked up 220 first class wickets for Bengal in the 61 matches he played and also pocketed 86 wickets for the same number of matches in the list A format. He was also in India's Test squad for the fourth Test against Australia at Mumbai, in 2004-05.