India batsman Virender Sehwag has announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.
On the day of his 37th birthday, Sehwag confirmed on Twitter that he had retired from internationals and also the Indian Premier League.
"Cricket has been my life and continues to be so," he wrote in a lengthy statement. "Playing for India was a memorable journey and I tried to make it more memorable for my teammates and the Indian cricket fans.
"I believe that I was reasonably successful in doing so. For that, I wish to thank all my teammates over the years - some of the greatest players of the game."
Sehwag will now take part in the Masters Champions League, a United Arab Emirates-based Twenty20 tournament that requires its players to have retired from all international formats.
He finished his statement by saying: "I also want to thank everyone for all the cricketing advice given to me over the years and apologise for not accepting most of it! I had a reason for not following it; I did it my way!"
Sehwag was one of the more aggressive openers in Test batting history, scoring at a strike rate of over 80 in the longest format.
He played 104 Tests, 251 one-day internationals and 19 Twenty20 internationals, scoring over 17,000 runs and picking up 136 wickets with his off-break bowling.
Sehwag was most successful in Tests, where he made 23 hundreds, including the only two triple-centuries by any Indian batsman.
Pascal Lemesre
