Jeet Raval announces retirement from professional cricket

Former New Zealand cricketer Jeet Raval has announced his retirement from professional cricket ahead of the upcoming domestic season. Raval made his debut for New Zealand in a Test match against Pakistan in November 2016 and played 24 Tests for the country.

The left-handed batter scored 1143 runs at an average of 30.07, with his only century coming against Bangladesh in Hamilton in 2019. He also registered seven fifties in his career and scalped one wicket.

"It's with a great honour and a privilege that I made this decision. I feel at peace and very content. The childhood dream [was] obviously to play for Black Caps and I look back with pride. It wasn't just my dream, [but] also my father's dream as well. We saw an opportunity and he moved the family here so I could have an opportunity to live my dream,” Raval told Northern Districts Cricket Association.

Raval was born and brought up in Gujarat, India and was Parthiv Patel's opening partner when they played for Vidyanagar School in Ahmedabad. He later immigrated to Auckland in his teens and became one of the most successful openers in New Zealand domestic cricket.

Raval's domestic career

He opened the batting in 285 of his 292 first-class innings, scoring 10,127 runs at an average of 37.36, including 23 centuries in that position. His last professional match was for Northern Districts, against Central Districts, in March earlier this year in the Plunket Shield.

He was also part of the New Zealand squad during their triumph in the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) in June 2021. Raval scored 2714 runs at an average of 30.15 in List A cricket, while in 96 T20 games, he made 1484 runs at an average of 21.50 and a strike rate of 121.44.

Recently, he also took up an assistant coaching role with the Samoa team, where Tarun Nethula served as head coach.