Christchurch: New Zealand’s Colin Munro, a dynamic top-order batsman, declared his retirement from international cricket on Friday after being omitted from the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Munro’s international career spanned one Test match, 57 ODIs, and 65 T20Is for the Kiwis, accumulating a total of 3010 runs. However, it was in the shortest format where the left-hander truly made his mark.
In T20Is, he boasted an impressive strike rate of 156.44, and at 37 years old, he remains among the select few players to have scored over 10,000 runs across all T20 competitions.
Born in Durban, Munro amassed 10,961 runs from 428 T20 matches, with an average of 30.44 and a strike rate of 141.25.
Although Munro’s last appearance for New Zealand was in 2020 during a T20I match against India at Mount Maunganui, he expressed pride in representing the Black Caps.
“Playing for the Black Caps has always been the pinnacle of my career,” Munro stated in his retirement announcement. “The opportunity to do so 123 times across all formats is a source of immense pride for me.”
Munro emphasized that the timing was right to bid farewell to international cricket. “While it has been some time since my last international appearance, I remained hopeful of a return based on my performances in franchise T20 cricket. With the T20 World Cup squad announcement, now is the ideal moment to officially close this chapter,” he remarked.
Although Munro’s name was discussed during squad selection, New Zealand coach Gary Stead ultimately could not accommodate him in the final squad.
Nevertheless, Munro will continue to showcase his skills in various T20 leagues worldwide.
Among his notable achievements is his 14-ball 50 against Sri Lanka at Eden Park in 2016, which remains the fastest T20I fifty by a New Zealand batsman and the fourth quickest of all time. Additionally, his 47-ball century against the West Indies in 2018 was then the fastest T20I hundred by a Kiwi, making him the first player to achieve three T20I centuries.
