Dravid to quit ODIs after England series

international limited-overs cricket following the England series. In his announcement, which came hours after he was handed a shock recall to the one-day side for that tour, he said he wanted to retire from the shorter forms and concentrate on Test cricket.Dravid, 38, is the seventh highest run-getter in ODIs, with 10,765 runs in 339 matches, averaging just under 40. He hasn't been a regular in the Indian one-day side since late 2007 - a couple of months after he reached his career-high ICC ranking of No. 5 - though he made a brief comeback during the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa. He admitted he hadn't expected a recall for the upcoming England series.

"Since I had not been picked for one-day cricket for the last two years, I was obviously a little surprised," he said after India's tour match against Northamptonshire. "To be honest, because I had not been picked, I had not informed the selectors or the board of my desire to solely focus on Test cricket.

"At the end of this one-day series, I would like to announce my retirement from one-day and Twenty20 cricket and concentrate only on Test cricket. I am committed, as always to give my best to India in this one-day series and obviously the Test series that follows.

"In the short term I am committed because now I have been picked for the series, but in the long term I think it is best for me and Indian cricket that I focus on Test cricket."

Dravid recently became the second highest run-getter in Tests, and has had a resurgence in form over the past couple of months, scoring three centuries in five Tests to end a relatively lean run in the last few years.

When he started his international career in 1996, he was seen as a batsman more suited to the longer form but he soon adapted to the challenges of one-day cricket. Among the highlights of his ODI career was the 1999 World Cup, where he was the top scorer and put on the then largest partnership in a one-dayer, 318 with Sourav Ganguly. Six months later he bettered that with a 331-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar that is still the biggest in the format.