Pieter Seelaar announces retirement from international cricket due to persistent back injury

The Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar, who missed his side's second ODI against England on Sunday through injury, has announced his shock retirement from international cricket due to a persistent back injury. Wicketkeeper Scott Edwards, who was Netherlands stand-in captain for their match against England, will take over the captaincy mantle from all-rounder Seelaar.

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Seelaar was primarily known as an accurate, economical, and effective left-arm spinner. But, he worked hard on his batting through the years and earned a place in the Dutch middle-order. However, apart from captaining the Netherlands in winning the qualification tournament at the UAE in 2019 for the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup and against major sides in ODI cricket.

In 57 ODI appearances, Seelaar took 57 wickets at an average of 35.68 and an economy rate of 4.67. Meanwhile, he also aggregated 347 runs with the bat. In T20I cricket, he played 77 matches and picked 58 wickets at an average of 22.24 and an economy rate of 6.83. With the bat, Seelaar scored 519 runs, including an unbeaten 96.

He ends up his international career as the Netherlands' most-capped T20I cricketer (77) and their leading wicket-taker in the format (58). Moreover, he is also their joint-highest ODI wicket-taker (57) alongside Mudassar Bukhari. He has played over 300 games for them in all formats across a 17-year career. Seelaar was the Netherlands' longest-serving international player (for 15 yrs 346 days).

"We wish him the very best for the future": Roland Lefebvre

"Pieter's input has been priceless, first as a player and later also as a captain. His management style is open, honest, and transparent, which has always been appreciated by the players. He can look back upon a wonderful international career that unfortunately comes to an untimely end. We wish him the very best for the future."

said Roland Lefebvre, High-Performance Manager

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Seelaar was a member of the Netherlands side that defeated England at the Lord's in the opening match of the Men's T20 World Cup in 2009 at the Lord's.

In that memorable match, he took the wicket of then-England skipper, Paul Collingwood. He was also a part of the Netherlands team in defeating England again at Chattogram in Bangladesh in 2014. The match was during the Men's T20 World Cup 2014.