India's T20 World Cup winner Robin Uthappa retires from all forms of Indian cricket

India's T20 World Cup winner Robin Uthappa on Wednesday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Uthappa, who made his India debut in 2006, played a key part in the Men in Blue winning the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. He became a popular name in the country when he helped India win the bowl-out against Pakistan in what was the very first meeting between the rivals in the T20Is. In the final, while Uthappa did not contribute much with the bat, he inflicted a run out and took a catch.

Uthappa scored 113 runs in six innings and was India's fourth leading run-scorer in the tournament after Gautam Gambhir, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, and Virender Sehwag.

"It has been my greatest honour to represent my country and my state, Karnataka. However, all good things must come to an end, and with a grateful heart, I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket," Uthappa wrote on Twitter.

"It's been 20 years since I started playing professional cricket and it has been the greatest honour to represent my country and state, Karnataka - a wonderful journey full of ups and downs; one that has been fulfilling, rewarding, and enjoyable, and has allowed me to grow as a human being," the 36-year-old wrote in a statement.

"However, all good things must come to an end, and with a grateful heart, I have decided to retire from all forms of Indian cricket. While I will spend significant time with my young family, I look forward to chatting a new phase of my life," the batsman added further.

Uthappa's statement read he would be retiring from "all forms of Indian cricket," meaning he could soon be seen playing in T20 leagues overseas. In fact, he has reportedly obtained a no-objection Certificate (NOC) from Kerala, the last state he played for in domestic cricket, and will be free to take up assignments in overseas T20 leagues and "charting a new phase in my life," according to ESPNCricinfo.

Uthappa never managed to capitalised on his T20 World Cup success in 2007. The following year, he had a poor year in international cricket in 2008, scoring only 179 runs in 11 ODI innings. As a result, he was dropped from the Indian team. It took him time to deliver in the domestic circuit as well after that. Finally, in the 2013-14 season, he had a superb domestic season in which Karnataka completed a rare treble - winning the Ranji Trophy, Irani Cup, and Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The Karnataka batsman carried the form into the Indian Premier League (IPL). His move to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) paid off as he scored 40 or more in 10 successive innings in the IPL 2014. He helped KKR win the title as he finished as the tournament with most runs – 600 – and that saw him return to the Indian national team. Team India roped in Uthappa for the tour to Bangladesh for the ODI series in 2014, where he made one fifty in a series of rain-interrupted matches.

While Uthappa never managed to play Tests for India, he represented India 59 times (46 ODIs and 13 T20Is). However, he had a fine record in First-Class as he accumulated 9,446 runs in 142 games at an average of 40.71, including 22 centuries and 52 fifties. He had a nine-year career with India between 2006 and 2015.