Record-breaking New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori has said that the timing is not right to officially announce his retirement from Test cricket, in light of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes' passing.
Vettori's 112th Test for New Zealand, and quite possibly his last, was their innings and 80-run victory over Pakistan in the third Test in Sharjah.
However, the 35-year-old didn't want to claim any limelight following the Hughes' passing on Thursday, which had impacted heavily on Vettori and his teammates, Stuff.co.nz reported.
Vettori said that he supposes the current timing, what's happened in the last few days, it doesn't feel appropriate to make a big statement, so he added that he thought that he would just sit back and enjoy the Test win as much as he could.
Vettori moved ahead of the 111 Tests played by another former captain, Stephen Fleming, to be the record-holder for New Zealand caps.
His two wickets in Sharjah lift him to 361 Test scalps. The figure is 362 if a Test for a World XI against Australia in 2005 is included.
The veteran spinner hadn't played a Test for more than two years because of a variety of injuries and believed any return to international cricket would be in the limited-overs form, with an eye on next year's World Cup.
Vettori said that in his mind, there wasn't anymore Test cricket in the future, but added that he didn't think it was appropriate to retire when he had been out of the team so long. He said that it was probably easier to just disappear, but this opportunity over the last few days has been special.
Left-arm spinner Vettori was included in the New Zealand A squad for a series of one-day matches in the United Arab Emirates. He was surprised when called on by New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum to play the third Test, immediately questioning whether his fitness was up to Test requirements.
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