India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has given a shock to the cricket fans and team India as he decided to retire from international cricket on Wednesday. The 38-year-old took this decision in the middle of the Test series against Australia in Brisbane.
Ravichandran Ashwin Announces His Retirement From International Cricket
💔 An Era Comes to an End 💔
Ravichandran Ashwin, the spin maestro, bids farewell to international cricket. 🌟 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/sChzvyHwKR
With 537 Test wickets, countless match-winning spells, and unmatchable cricketing intelligence, #Ashwin redefined what it means to…
— Praneet Samaiya (@praneetsamaiya) December 18, 2024
“I won’t take too much of your time. Today will be the last day for me as an India cricketer,” Ashwin stated at the end of the drawn third Test in a joint press conference with captain Rohit Sharma, during which he declined to take any questions and left after making the announcement.
Ashwin did not answer any questions after the announcement. While Rohit admitted that he was quite speechless and described him as one of the country’s biggest match-winners. “Ash was extremely sure about the decision that he was about to make. I came across this when I arrived in Perth. Of course, I was not present in the stadium for the first three or four days of the Test match; nonetheless, it was on his mind since then. I mean, many things happened behind it; I am sure, Ash, when he went in the position, he would have been able to answer that,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference.
Rohit further 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.”
Ravichandran Ashwin Thanked His Teammates
The love we give away is the only love we keep. 🙏🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/kfkGjGfNE7
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) December 18, 2024
At 38, R. Ashwin has retired from international cricket as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests. He took an impressive 537 wickets in 106 matches, just behind Anil Kumble, who leads with 619 wickets.
“I have lost some of them over the last few years (in the team). We are the last bunch of OG’s left in the dressing room. I would be marking this as my date of having played at this level,” he said.
“There are a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I did not thank BCCI and my fellow teammates. I want to name a few of them. Most importantly, Rohit, Virat, Ajinkya, and Pujara have taken those hundred catches around the bat to give me those wickets I managed to get over the years… As a cricketer, I’ve just stopped playing, and I might go on to be involved with the game because this is a game that’s given me everything. Thank you,” he added.
Ashwin was excellent and one of the all-time greats for Team India. In the 44 Test series, he was awarded with the Player of the Series 11 times, which no other player has achieved. He also, with the bat, came hugely handy and amassed 3,503 runs in total during 151 innings. These include six hundred and 14 fifties, which are important contributions towards India in winning test matches.
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