For the longest time, Ravichandran Ashwin had been no stranger to being snubbed to accommodate Ravindra Jadeja in overseas Tests, but the Gautam Gambhir-led Indian management made a very surprising selection call in the first Test against Australia in Perth by picking Washington Sundar as the lone spinner.
Ravichandran Ashwin returned to the starting XI for the second Test in Adelaide but then announced a shock retirement after being overlooked for the third Test in Brisbane, where the veteran spinner called it quits from international cricket on the final day of the rain-marred game.
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin sent shockwaves across the entire cricketing world when he announced his retirement from cricket in the middle of Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia earlier this month. While Ravichandran Ashwin made a statement to the press about his retirement, he refused to take any questions on the matter. However, the 37 year old had now finally broken his silence on international cricket retirement giving insights behind why he took the decision at this stage in his career.
Ravichandran Ashwin stunned the cricket world after the third India vs Australia Test in Brisbane as he announced his retirement from international cricket. Being the highest wicket-taker among active bowlers with 537 scalps, many expected Ravichandran Ashwin, 38, to continue for some more time. However, he retired with two Tests left in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Notably, Ravichandran Ashwin is the 7th highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 537 wickets in the 106 matches. In terms of Indian bowlers, R Ashwin is only behind Anil Kumble’s 619 wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin played his last Test match against Australia in Adelaide, but he had not announced his retirement then. So, the legend did not get any guard of honor in that Test, but he previously received guard of honor from the Indian team during his 100th Test match in March 2024 against England.
Ravichandran Ashwin A legendary off spinner of Indian cricket
India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday surprised the cricketing world by announcing his retirement with immediate effect in the middle of the Test series against Australia. R Ashwin retires from the game as the second highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 537 scalps in 106 games, leaving him only behind Anil Kumble (619 wickets). He will continue to play club cricket. In his final press-conference, alongside an emotional India captain Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin broke his retirement news.
It was quite an emotional moment for R Ashwin and his family at that time, and while giving guard of honor during his 100th test match, Rohit Sharma hugged R Ashwin which created quite a news at that time.
R Ashwin took nine wickets in that Test match, with four in the first innings and five in the second and was going great guns before the New Zealand series. He could not live upto his billing in the New Zealand series, and that probably triggered his retirement call.
To possess 537 wickets, currently seventh in the all-time list, 37 five-wicket hauls, and 3503 runs with six hundreds, mark Ashwin as a great in Tests. It is a format he embraced well even if his initial foray into the spotlight were through his spells in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In ODIs, Ashwin bagged 156 wickets and made a belated comeback too, such was his zeal to compete. Ashwin also played 116 ODIs and 65 T20Is for India, taking 228 wickets across these two formats.
Ashwin is currently the seventh-highest Test wicket-taker of all time. Not just that, he also has six hundreds to his name in the longest format. R Ashwin’s mid-way retirement during the Australia series has brought back memories of similar decisions by MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble in the past. However, R Ashwin will continue to play in IPL as he has retired only from international cricket and was recently bought by CSK in IPL 2025 Mega Auction. Now, R Ashwin has broken a long silence on the reason behind his retirement.
Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and that call became the biggest talking point. Just the manner in which the events unfolded was surprising. Even days after that incident took place, it is still being talked about. Speaking on former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath’s YouTube channel ‘Cric It with Badri’, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun reckoned that the Perth snub would have really hurt Ashwin.
Former coach Bharat Arun makes massive statement on R Ashwin’s retirement midway through BGT 2024-25
Former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun believes Washington Sundar’s selection in Perth forced R Ashwin to retire midway through the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. R Ashwin made a stunning retirement announcement right after the drawn third Test in Brisbane, much to the surprise of cricket fans and experts worldwide.
The 38-year-old played only the second Test in Adelaide with Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja playing the first and third Tests. R Ashwin endured a rare sub-par home series against New Zealand before the Australian tour, picking up only nine wickets at an average of 41.22.
However, his off-spinning successor, Sundar, was at his best in the New Zealand series with 16 wickets at an average of 14.12 in the two matches he played.
Speaking about Ashwin’s retirement on former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath’s YouTube channel, Bharat Arun said [via Cricket.com]:
“In the very first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him. In the past, Ravindra Jadeja played ahead of Ashwin a lot in overseas tours but I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that. But I feel that this time around, he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order.”
Incidentally, India went with two spinners, Sundar and Jadeja, in the playing XI for the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Yet, they ultimately suffered a 1-3 series defeat to surrender the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“He would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures” – Bharat Arun
Bharat Arun feels R Ashwin would have continued if he started as the primary spinner in Australia and was dropped after a couple of poor performances.
The champion off-spinner finished as India’s second-leading wicket-taker overall (765) and in Tests (537), behind only Anil Kumble.
“Jadeja was slightly ahead of Ashwin on batting, and he was a left-hander as well. I myself have, at times, personally explained to Ashwin the reason for picking Jadeja over him. Ashwin took it [the reasoning] very well, too. But here, after having played so much top-level cricket, the tour got off to a false start for him. I think he would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures,” said Bharat Arun.
He concluded:
“But they dropped him for the very first Test, then played him in a pink-ball Test, and then dropped him again for the third Test. After this sequence of events, Ashwin might have thought to himself that it’s best to move on.”
R Ashwin will continue playing club cricket and is likely to be in action for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025.