Kevin Pietersen confirms retirement from cricket

New Delhi: Former England skipper Kevin Pietersen dropped a strong hint that he has pulled the curtains down on his career after he decided not to join Quetta Gladiators in Lahore for their playoff encounter of the Pakistan Super League.

The group stages of the Pakistan Super League were held at the Sharjah cricket stadium in UAE but since the tournament is heading back to Pakistan for the knockout stages, Pietersen has opted to pull out from the tournament, citing security reasons

The 37-year-old batsman hinted at his long-expected retirement with a Tweet which simply read "Boots Up! Thank you" before expanding on his situation on Saturday.

BOOTS UP!
Thank you! 😍

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) March 16, 2018

"Someone just tweeted to tell me that I scored 30000+ runs including 152 fifty's & 68 hundreds in my pro career," he wrote on Twitter.

Just been told that I scored 30000+ runs which included 152 fifty’s & 68 hundreds in my professional career.

Time to move on! pic.twitter.com/zMSIa3FK6K

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) March 17, 2018

"4 Ashes wins. Home & away! T20 WC win. Beaten India in India. Home & away 100's in all major Test nations apart from Bangladesh.

"All dedicated to my family who have just been the most unreal supporters through thick & thin! I'm super proud of everything!

"Thank you for all the quite lovely msgs! I loved entertaining you all! Ciao, cricket! I love this game!" he wrote in emotional message on Instagram

 

Someone just tweeted me to tell me that I scored 30000+ runs including 152 fifty’s & 68 hundreds in my pro career. 4 Ashes wins. Home & away! T20 WC win. Beaten India in India. Home & away 100’s in all major Test nations apart from Bangladesh. All dedicated to my family who have just been the most unreal supporters through thick & thin! I’m super proud of everything! Thank you for all the quite lovely msgs! I loved entertaining you all! Ciao, cricket! I love this game!

A post shared by Kevin Pietersen (@kp24) on Mar 17, 2018 at 4:25am PDT

A post on Quetta's Twitter feed read: "You will be missed @KP24 Great career!! Thank you for everything. Wish you could stayed with us till PSL final but we respect your decision."

South Africa-born Pietersen is believed to be ready to move on from cricket as he devotes more time to his conservation work with rhinos.

England's second-highest run scorer across all three forms of the game, Pietersen won four Ashes series and hit 8,181 runs in 104 Tests.