Former UAE captain CP Rizwan, the first Malayali to score ODI century, retires from international cricket

C P Rizwan, the Malayali who captained the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced retirement from international cricket a week before the Asia Cup.

"It has been a great roller-coaster ride," Rizwan wrote in an emotional post on Instagram. He represented the UAE for five years, famously captaining the Emiratis to their first win in a T20 World Cup in 2022. It was a 7-run win over Namibia, with Rizwan scoring an unbeaten 43 off 29. 

Rizwan scored more than 1,250 runs from 60 international matches, hitting a century and five fifties. The century (109) against Ireland in a 6-wicket ODI win on January 8, 2021, was the first scored by a Malayali in an international match. "I scored that century with Sanju's bat. He had gifted me that," Rizwan told Onmanorama.

Fellow Keralite Sanju Samson was already an international, having played for India since 2014. But Sanju scored his maiden century for India (108) in December 2023 against South Africa, more than two years after Rizwan's international ton.

Rizwan played with Sanju during his time in Kerala before moving to the Emirates in 2014. His domestic performances in the UAE earned him the national team call-up in 2019.

At 37, Rizwan's decision to retire wasn't unexpected. Still, the timing has raised eyebrows because the UAE are expected to announce the squad for the Asia Cup they are preparing to host starting September 9. "I was pondering over this (retirement) for some time," he said.

Rizwan last played for the UAE in March 2024 in a World Cup qualifier against Canada. Then, he fell out of favour.

"I was told to get runs in domestic cricket and make a comeback. I did that by top-scoring in the premier domestic competition. But it seems there are things beyond my performances."

The right-hander was in splendid form in the last Emirates D50 Tournament, scoring the most runs (336 from 6 matches), at an outstanding average of 168. But it appears he was made aware that he won't be in the squad.

Rizwan recollected the challenges of following a professional career, like "playing cricket in the night and working full-time in the morning 8-6". He is not content with his career, but he is "grateful for the journey".

"I would have loved to go on, but it is what it is," Rizwan said. He has wished the Emirates cricket team the best in the Asia Cup and wants to focus on his other career as an employee of Emirates Airlines, and playing in corporate leagues.