India captain Climax Lawrence, who led the team to the SAFF Cup title in December, retired from international football yesterday after being unceremoniously dropped by coach Savio Medeira from the 30-probables for the AFC Challenge Cup in March.



The Dempo midfielder said that he was hurt with the way he was dropped from the national team. "I had to retire. Age is not on my side.

But this is not the way you treat a senior player. During the SAFF Cup, Savio said I have two years of international football left in me.

And now he does a U-turn," said Lawrence, who had also captained the team in the Asian Cup last year in the absence of injured Baichung Bhutia.

"It really hurts to be treated badly after serving the country for more than a decade," he said.