Sehwag quits internationals and IPL

India batsman Virender Sehwag has formally retired from international cricket. On Tuesday, his 37th birthday, Sehwag made the announcement via Twitter, with a crisp message that said he would no longer play the IPL either.

On Monday, Sehwag had revealed he would be participating in the Masters Champions League, a UAE-based Twenty20 tournament that requires its participants to have retired from all international formats, and said a formal retirement announcement would follow soon. He indicated that he would continue playing for Haryana till the end of the Ranji Trophy season.

Sehwag is widely considered one of India's greatest opening batsmen, and he revolutionised the art of batting against the new ball in Test cricket with his aggressive approach, scoring at a strike rate of over 80 in the longest format. He has been out of India's plans for over two years, having last played for the national side in the Hyderabad Test against Australia in March 2013.

Sehwag played 104 Tests, 251 ODIs and 19 T20Is, scoring over 17000 international runs and picking up 136 wickets with his offspin. His greatest moments came in Test cricket, where he made 23 hundreds including the only two triple-centuries by any Indian batsman, while his ODI achievements included the format's second double-hundred. He was part of India's victorious squads in the 2007 World T20 and the 2011 World Cup.