Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 18: India’s ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday after the end of the third Test match against Australia in Brisbane as a drawn game.
The announcement was made during the post-match press conference after the Gabba Test he addressed along with captain Rohit Sharma. “This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats in the international level,” the 38-year-old told reporters at the Gabba ground.
Ashwin added, “I have had a lot of fun. I must say I have created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates even though I have lost some of them over the last few years. We are the last bunch of OGs. Obviously, there are a lot of people to thank but I would be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and the fellow teammates. I want to name a few of them. All the coaches who have been a part of the journey, most importantly Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, who have taken those splendid catches to give me the number of wickets I have managed to get over the years.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in a post on X thanked the all-rounder and said, “A name synonymous with mastery, wizardry, brilliance, and innovation. The ace spinner and Team India’s invaluable all-rounder announces his retirement from international cricket.”
While speaking at the press conference, Ashwin said, “Also a big thank you to the Australian cricket team who have been very fierce competitors. I have enjoyed my time playing against them. I think it is already getting long. I wouldn’t be taking any questions. But it is truly a very emotional moment.”
While Ashwin did not take any further questions after the announcement, Rohit said he was clearly at a loss of words following the announcement and called him one of the biggest “match-winners” the country has ever produced. “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.
“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.”
The 38-year-old retires from the game as the second highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 537 scalps in 106 games at an average of 24, placing him only behind the great Anil Kumble (619 wickets) in the overall statistics. In the limited-overs format, being part of the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams would count among the highlights of his career.
“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.” “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.
