Veteran domestic all-rounder and former Kolkata Knight Riders star Rajat Bhatia has announced his retirement from all forms of the game. With this, he brings an end to a decade-spanning two decades. The same has been confirmed in a report carried by ESPNCricinfo.
The medium-fast bowler picked 137 wickets and accumulated as many as 6482 runs in his first-class career. In 112 first-class matches, Bhatia scored 17 centuries and 50 half-centuries. His last first-class game was against Mizoram in January 2019 where he led Uttarakhand to a win by an innings and 56 runs.
Bhatia started his domestic career with Tamil Nadu in 1999-2000 season prior to moving to Delhi in 2003-04. It was Bhatia’s 525 runs and 26 wickets in nine matches- which included a century in the final against Uttar Pradesh- played a vital role in Delhi winning the Ranji trophy in 2007-08.
Bhatia was also a vital cog in the wheel of the Kolkata Knight Riders campaign which won the title in 2012 under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir.
In all, he played 146 T20 matches, accumulating 1251 runs and picking up 111 wickets.