Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement at the midpoint of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in which he took 537 wickets. This is the second-highest for India for Tests.
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| India’s Second-highest wicket-taker in Test Ravichandran Ashwin |
Ravichandran Ashwin, the top Indian off-spinner is retiring from international cricket. He walked out of the sport as the second-highest wicket-taker in Tests. Ashwin 38, was notified about his decision within hours of India playing in the third Gabba Test against Australia in Brisbane closing the curtains on a legendary 13-year playing professional career in India. At 537, Ravichandran Ashwin is next only to legend Anil Kumble’s score of 619. He is scheduled to return home to India tomorrow morning.
It will be my final moment in the role of an Indian cricketer of any format played at an international level. I feel there’s some energy that I have left as a player and I’d like to find out more about the potential and show it off in club cricket. However, this is my final day. It’s been lots of enjoyment. I’ve certainly made many memories with Rohit and a number of my teammates. Although I’ve lost a few of them in the past few years, we’re still the last of the OGs and you could affirm that. The dressing room, I’ll mark this as the date I’ve been playing at this stage,” Ashwin said during India’s press conference after the match.
“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 my fellow teammates. I want to name a few of them. All the coaches who have been part of my journey, and Rohit, Virat, Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have taken those catches around the bat and given my number of wickets I’ve managed to get over the years.”
Rumours of R Ashwin’s upcoming plans gathered steam as, during the rainy interval on the 5th day of play, cameras caught Virat Kohli in a hug with deeply Ashwin. There was clearly something going on – Ashwin was also seen having a chat with his Australian partner Nathan Lyon. In a live stream, the former India captain Sunil Gavaskar basically confirmed Ashwin’s retirement. This was confirmed a few hours later.
Ashwin’s retirement falls during the middle of the India and Australia Test match. Ashwin only played an innings in the course of the Border-Gavaskar Cup. He was included as a member of the playing XI in The second test in Adelaide in which Australia defeated by 10 wickets. In the game, Ashwin took just one wicket and scored scores of 22, 7 and 22. Ashwin has played for a long time in Indian cricket. He is one of the top off-spinners that the country has ever produced. Ashwin played in 106 Tests, and 65 T20Is in India with 765 wickets in all formats.
In the Tests, Ashwin has picked his wickets with an average rate of 24 with an average strike rate of 50.7 He also has 37 5-wicket hauls. The list of achievements isn’t over. Ashwin is regarded as the seventh-highest wicket-taker during Tests. He is also currently the top bowler taking wickets among spinners who are off-spinners. However, Nathan Lyon will eventually surpass his record.
Ashwin made his Test debut in the year 2011 in the match against West Indies. However, his first international appearance was a year earlier when he was selected in the ODI XI to play in an ODI clash with Sri Lanka. Ashwin made his debut when he was a player with MS Dhoni for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL. The World Cup winner showed the best in Ashwin frequently entrusting Ashwin with the ball in the Powerplay.
The spinner was not disappointed and was a huge success, especially since Ashwin frequently snubbed his opponents like Chris Gayle in the powerplay. The grooming of Ashwin during the IPL set the stage for Dhoni to unleash his bowler in international cricket and there’s been no stopping since. Ashwin made his debut in 2011 and was a key part of India’s World Cup-winning campaign, as well as the 2013 Champions Trophy wins.