With rumours of MS Dhoni’s retirement filtering through the cricketing world, here comes confirmed news that Dinesh Mongia is retiring from all forms of cricket. This all-rounder had a rollercoaster career with many highs that was balanced with lows.
One of the highlights of his career was when he was selected over VVS Laxman to join the Indian team for the ICC World Cup 2003 in South Africa. However, the Indian team were runners-up of the tournament as Australia defeated the squad in the finals.
Highpoints of Dinesh Mongia’s career:
1) He scored 8028 runs in 121 FC matches with an average of 48.95.
2) His best score was 308* with 27 centuries and 28 half-centuries.
3) His collective runs amount to 5535 in 198 List-A games where he achieved 10 centuries and 26 fifties.
4) His talent stood out when he racked up 159* against Zimbabwe in just 147 balls.
5) He featured in India’s first-ever T20I match against South Africa way back in 2006.
6) He made 1230 runs by playing 57 ODIs with one century.
7) In his sole T20I match, he made 38 runs.
8) He is one of the left-handed batsmen capable of left-arm spinner. He successfully applied this talent in the English county cricket.
9) In 2004, he was signed by Lancashire in place of Stuart Law.
10) In 2005, he signed a full-time contract with Leicestershire.
11) He also made appearances for the Lashings XI team too.
His bitter moment was when he joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in the 2007. He appeared on the field playing for Punjab. This affected his cricket career as all players associated with ICL were banned from BCCI. Even though most of the cricket players were granted amnesty, Dinesh Mongia was left out and he kept aloof from the cricketing circuit.
This left-handed batsman who came from Punjab and made is debut at the state level in 1995 – 96. He was known for getting runs in the domestic cricket setup. After a prolific stint with the Indian cricket team, Dinesh Mongia was made the state selector for the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) in the last season. This move was symbolic and important. It was a sign that the BCCI grated him amnesty. Presently, he is open to taking up coaching assignments.
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