South African white-ball specialist and former T20I skipper Farhaan Behardien announced his retirement from professional cricket on Tuesday. The 39-year-old, who played 59 ODIs and 38 T20Is and captained the Proteas in a three-match T20 series against Sri Lankan in 2017, took to social media to announce his decision to retire. The all-rounder said the decision to quit professional cricket after playing for more than 18 years was tough, and the last couple of weeks were especially tough for him.
Predominantly a batter, he made 1074 ODI runs and 518 T20I runs, though it was his prolific run-scoring in domestic cricket which stood out. Behardien made his first-class debut in 2004 and scored more than 7,000 runs in 125 games with his highest being an unbeaten 150.
He had to wait eight years to make his South Africa debut and became a regular in the white-ball sides.
He was part of the Proteas' T20 World Cup campaigns in 2012, 2014 and 2016 as well as the ODI World Cup in 2015.
"18 years has come and gone. 560 pro games across all formats, including 97 caps for my country, 17 trophies in the cabinet and blessed to have played 4 world cups," wrote Behardien on social media.
He last represented South Africa in November 2018 in a T20I against Australia in Carrara.
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