Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket after India drew the 3rd Test against Australia. Here’s what Rohit Sharma had to say.
India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket after the end of the Brisbane Test against Australia. Ashwin, 38, made the announcement when he came along with captain Rohit Sharma to address the reporters shortly after the third Test ended in a draw on Tuesday. Rohit was clearly at a loss for words following Ashwin’s announcement, calling the spinner one of the biggest “match-winners” the country has ever produced.
India captain Rohit Sharma (L) and Ravichandran Ashwin(Getty)
Ashwin finishes his career as the second-highest Indian wicket-taker in Tests with 537 scalps. Rohit revealed that he first got to know about the decision upon his arrival in Perth, by the time when Ashwin had made up his mind, and added that he really needed to convince the veteran off-spinner to take part in the pink-ball Adelaide Test.
“Speaking about Ash, he was very very sure about this decision. I heard this when I came to Perth. Obviously, I was not there for the first three or four days of the Test match, but this was on his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it; I’m pretty sure, Ash, when he went in position, will be able to answer that,” Rohit told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“He understands what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking of. When we came here as well, we were not sure about which spinner was going to play. We just wanted to assess and see what kind of conditions we get in front of us, But yeah, when I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had, and I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink ball Test,” he added.
Ashwin’s retirement is a bit of a shocker, as he was still getting the job done by taking wickets regularly in the past few years. It is important to state that Ashwin was the first bowler to reach 100 wickets in the World Test Championship, reaching the mark in March 2022. The off-spinner also bids adieu to the game as the highest wicket-taker in the World Test Championship across three editions, with a total of 195 scalps to his name. Ashwin’s 37 Test five-wicket hauls are only second to former Sri Lanka spinner Muttiah Muralidaran, who had 67 fifers in Tests.
Ravichandran Ashwin’s stellar record in numbers(HT)
Speaking further in his tribute, Rohit said, “It just happened so that if you know where he felt that, ‘if I’m not needed right now in the series, I’m better off. Saying goodbye to the game, but obviously, we’ve not been to Melbourne yet, so we don’t know what sort of conditions we expect there and what sort of combination, but just keeping Ash in particularly in mind, giving him that respect that this if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way and we should all stand by.”
‘Truly a big match winner’
Rohit spoke highly of Ashwin, saying his contributions to Indian cricket, helping his side win countless Tests at home, is one to savour.
“He is a big match-winner for us. He is allowed to make those decisions on his own, and if it was now, so be it. He looks a very witty character, as you saw in his press conference. He is a very funny guy, there’s no doubt about that,” the skipper said.
“I’ve played cricket with Ash since under 17; he was an opener batsman then, and then a few years later, we all disappeared and then suddenly I’m hearing news about Tamil Nadu R Ashwin taking five wickets, seven wickets, and I was wondering who this guy is because I played him as a batsman and then suddenly he’s turned out to be a bowler who’s taking fifers and then obviously, you know at international cricket we met again, and then we had a long long journey together,” he added.
“Since 2010… so it’s been a long time playing together, we all know what he’s done for this team. So I don’t need to repeat it again and again, but a true match winner that India has ever seen, you know, one of the true match winners that India has ever seen in the form of his Ashwin, you know, whenever there was a crisis we had to look upon Ash, and then he was there to deliver for us so his records speaks for itself as well,” said Rohit.
Rohit did not stop there as he labelled Ashwin as a big servant of Indian cricket. “You know, he’s been such a servant of Indian cricket where he’s probably not left any stone unturned.”
Rohit was spot-on. Ashwin has the most Player of the Series awards in Test cricket (11). He was also the second-fastest bowler to reach 500 Test wickets, achieving the feat in 98 games in February 2024. He remains the quickest bowler to surpass the 250, 300 and 350 Test wickets mark. Ashwin bows out, having played just one Test in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He was named in the playing XI for the Adelaide pink-ball Test, where he picked up just one wicket. Ashwin played 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is for India, taking 765 wickets across all formats.
