Lendl Simmons announces retirement from international cricket

Veteran West Indies opener Lendl Simmons announced his retirement from international cricket on Monday (July 18). Simmons' announcement comes on the same day his former teammate Denesh Ramdin decided to hang up his boots for West Indies.

Simmons first made his debut for the West Indies way back in December 2006 in an ODI against Pakistan. Even though he fell for a duck on debut, Simmons went on to add 67 more caps in the format, scoring two centuries. He never managed to go past 50 in his short eight-match Test career but it was in T20 cricket where he made his biggest impact.

Simmons was a part of West Indies' victorious T20 World Cup campaigns in 2012 and 2016. In the semifinal in 2016, he hit a masterful 82 to help West Indies topple hosts India. As the highest rungetter in the CPL, Simmons was handed an opportunity to represent West Indies again in their title defence in 2021 but his last outing turned out to be not so memorable as he made only 16 off 35 balls in his side's loss to South Africa. Overall, in 144 games across formats, Simmons ended up scoring 3763 runs in international cricket.

Over the years, the 37-year-old has also represented various franchises around the globe with success. In 2015 and 2017, he played a major role in helping Mumbai Indians win the IPL title.

While announcing his decision to retire on social media, Simmons also confirmed that he will continue playing franchise cricket.

"When I wore the Maroon Colours of the West Indies Cricket for the first time on debut in ODIs on December 7th, 2006, little did I know that my international career would have lasted 16 years but my passion and love for the sport fuelled me every day," Simmons said on Twitter.

"I'm closing this chapter of International cricket having played 144 matches and scoring 3763 runs from all formats. I want to thank the West Indies Cricket Team for the opportunities, and I wish the new crop of WI players all the best and to keep on believing in yourselves and your abilities."