New Delhi : Former India pacer Rudra Pratap Singh on Tuesday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. The 32-year-old bowler posted a heartfelt message on his official Twitter account. "13 years ago, on 4th September 2005 was the first time I donned the Indian jersey. It was the stepping stone to what would become the most cherished moments of my life. Today as I hang my boots and call it a day, I wish to remember and give thanks to each and everyone who made this journey possible. Even as I write this, there are conflicting emotions inside me. No matter how much one prepares for the day, there is no easy way to bid goodbye. But somewhere inside there is the voice that tells you - it's time", he posted.

"And that for me is today. My heart and soul will always belong to that young boy who debuted at Faisalabad, Pakistan, who wanted nothing more but to feel the leather in his hand and keep playing but my body reminds me I am an old man who needs to make way for the young", he added.

Left-arm pacer Singh, who made his international debut against Zimbabwe in 2005, played 14 Tests for India where he took a total of 40 wickets with best figures of 5/59 against England in 2007.

Singh represented India in 58 ODIs clinching 69 wickets at an average of just under 34. In the shortest format of the game, Singh played a total of 10 games, registering best figures of four wickets for 13 runs.

The highlights of RP Singh's career was his five-wicket haul against England during the 2007 Lord's Test  where he played a prominent role in the second innings registering career figures od 5/59. India later, went on to win that series in England after a gap of 21 years.

Singh was also a part of the Indian side that won the inaugural edition of the ICC World T20 in 2007, where he took 12 wickets in seven matches, finishing as his side's highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

courtesy : ndtv.com

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Chennai (PTI): Dismissing the shock defeat in the Assembly election as nothing unusual in a democracy, the DMK on Wednesday said it has seen several ups and downs in its long history and asserted that the party workers and office-bearers continue to be energetic and are committed to continuing the good work for people's welfare.

Tracing the party's chequered history, DMK Organisation Secretary RS Bharathi said in 1991 Assembly polls, only the party's late patriarch M Karunanidhi and Parithi Ilamvazhuthi won from Harbour and Egmore segments respectively out of the 234 constituencies in the state.

"So, who can forget 1991? That year we lost. But we bounced back and formed the government in 1996. In our long history of over 7 decades we have seen lots of ups and downs and party workers show determination and continue the good work even when out of power," the DMK leader told PTI.

He said the difference in vote share between his party (24.19 per cent) and the "winning party" (34.92 per cent) is not "very wide."

Bharathi expressed confidence about the party bouncing back and once again emerging victorious.

He and others cited the message of DMK President M K Stalin, thanking the people and asserting that ideology was important rather than victories and defeats alone.

On May 4, the DMK chief asserted that he had seen in his public life, lot of victories and defeats as well. Hence, it is the goal and ideology that was paramount and not merely electoral victories and defeats.

The DMK, which worked efficiently as the ruling party, would from now on work effectively as the main opposition party.

He had further said: "I was truthful to all sections of people; I acted as per conscience, worked beyond my capacity."

Stalin said: "I bow to people's verdict, DMK worked well as ruling party, from now on will be good opposition party. DMK's political journey will continue without any slackness."

When votes were counted on May 4, actor-politician Vijay's TVK created a record of sorts in the electoral history of Tamil Nadu and emerged as the single largest party by delivering a shock defeat to incumbent DMK and its president, Chief Minister Stalin in his Kolathur constituency, while the AIADMK was pushed to a distant third spot.

Vijay and TVK have many firsts to their credit and the party founder will be the first person from a minority religion -Christianity- to helm the state. The assembly election was held on April 23 in Tamil Nadu.