Ravichandran Ashwin pulled off an MS Dhoni like moment as he announce his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect following the conclusion of the Gabba Test. He played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night fixture in Adelaide.
While speaking to the press, team India skipper Rohit Sharma revealed the exact moment when Ashwin had the thought to finally hang up his boots. He said, "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 in his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it; I'm pretty sure, you know, Ash, when he went in position, will be able to answer that,"
Rohit further added, "He understands, you know, what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking of. You know, when we came here as well, we were not sure about, you know, which spinner is gonna 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,"
R Ashwin bids goodbye to cricket
Ashwin ends his Test career as India's second-highest wicket-taker in the format, with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests, only behind Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets from 132 Tests.
Ashwin was the first bowler to record 100 WTC wickets and is currently the highest-wicket taker with 195 scalps from in 41 matches, followed by Australia’s Nathan Lyon (190).
In addition to his wickets, Ashwin also scored 3503 Test runs with six hundreds and 14 fifties, making him one of 11 allrounders with more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, level with Muthiah Muralidaran.
