Mansur Ali Khan quits first-class cricket

Mansur Ali Khan, the Karnataka seamer, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. Mansur made his debut in the 1995-96 season and played the last of his 24 matches in the 2001-02 season, finishing with 78 wickets. He also took 39 wickets in 22 one-dayers.

Mansur was part of the 1998-99 Ranji Trophy winning squad and forged a successful partnership with Dodda Ganesh, the former Indian seamer. He was, however, overshadowed by illustrious colleagues like Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble who all went on to carve successful careers for India. Mansur was overlooked by the state selectors in favour of younger bowlers.

He later took to coaching and has coached the Karnataka Under-22 team to the semi-finals of the All-India tournament, as well as the U-25 team which won the South Zone title. He has also represented his employers, Canara Bank, as a player.

Mansur, 36, admitted his retirement was rather belated, and said he would continue to pursue coaching. "I am thankful to all those who have supported me over the years in my cricketing career," he told Deccan Herald. "I would like to continue coaching. The main intention is to give back to cricket what I have learnt to the game."