Martin Guptill Announces Retirement After Over Two Years of Waiting for National Call-Up

After more than two years of waiting, New Zealand cricket star Martin Guptill has finally announced his retirement from international cricket. His last international match was in 2022, and despite the passing of many days, he was never called up to the national team. It seems that there may be no further opportunities for him in the national squad, which led him to make the decision to retire.

In his farewell message, Guptill thanked his teammates, especially Mark O'Donnell, who had been his coach since the Under-19 days and had always been by his side, providing guidance and advice.

Guptill had an illustrious career, achieving numerous milestones. During his prime, he took on opposition bowlers with ease. He played a total of 367 international matches for New Zealand across all formats. Guptill scored 23 centuries in total, with his debut ODI century making him the first Kiwi cricketer to do so.

In T20 cricket, Guptill became New Zealand’s highest run-scorer, amassing 3,531 runs in 122 matches. In the ODI format, he ranks 3rd in the list of highest run-scorers with 7,346 runs from 198 matches. Guptill also earned a place in the ICC’s World’s Best ODI XI.

One of the defining innings of Guptill’s career came during the 2015 World Cup, where he scored an unbeaten 237 runs against the West Indies, which remains the highest individual score in a World Cup. He also scored an unbeaten 189 runs against England in 2013 and 180* runs against South Africa in 2017.

Despite his many achievements, Guptill expressed some disappointment as he bid farewell to the game. "I am a bit disappointed with how my career has ended. But I have to look forward and move on," he said.