Former India and Tamil Nadu batsman Subramaniam Badrinath on Friday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket in a specially organised presser at the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) headquarters a the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai.

"This has certainly not been an easy decision to be honest. I've been pondering over it. I've mentioned it to (CSK CEO) Kasi Viswanathan," the 38-year-old Badrinath told reporters, as quoted by cricbuzz. 

Badrinath had been the mainstay of Tamil Nadu’s batting for nearly 18 years. His former teammate L Balaji and father Subramaniam were with him when he made the announcement.

"Somehow my hand didn't go into penning the letter over the last year. I don't know why. But having turned 38 on Thursday, I decided it was about the right time," he added.

The batsman had over 10,000 runs in first-class cricket.  

Badrinath represented India in all three formats of the game. He played 2 Tests, 7 ODIs and a solitary T20I in 2010 and 2011.

He made his test debut in 2010 against South Africa at Nagpur and made 56 against the likes of Dale Steyn. However, his test career didn’t last long and ended abruptly after just one more match in that series. 

A technically sound batsman, Badrinath also represented the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL).

"I am happy with what I have achieved. People thought I would never even play T20 cricket. But I went on to play more than 100 games for Chennai Super Kings. I got to play the format for India too, which I had never dreamt of,'' said Badrinath. 

His teammate Balaji congratulated him for a wonderful career. "Wish you good luck for the future. I still remember a game he saved for Tamil Nadu despite being admitted to hospital for dehydration. Such was his determination. Hats off to his courage and efforts over the years,’' said Balaji.

With IANS inputs