Ravichandran Ashwin retires in international cricket

Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his immediate retirement from international cricket. Following a draw in the rain-soaked third Test of the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Brisbane’s Gabba, he made his announcement.

“This year will be my final year playing cricket for India in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin said to reporters in Brisbane. “As a cricket player, I believe I still have some punch left, and I want to show it off in club cricket.

“I’ve enjoyed myself immensely. Even though we lost several of our teammates [to retirements] in the past few years, I have a lot of memories with Rohit [Sharma] and a few of my teammates. We can claim to be the final group of originals. I’ll be recording this as the day I played at this level.

“There are obviously many people to thank, but if I don’t acknowledge the BCCI and my teammates, I will be failing in my responsibilities. Many of them. Let me mention some of them. Each and every coach who has travelled with us. Most significantly, I owe the number of wickets I have amassed over the years to Rohit, Virat [Kohli], Ajinkya [Rahane], and [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have made those incredible catches around the bat. A special thanks goes out to the Australian cricket team as well, who have been quite competitive. My experience playing against them has been enjoyable.

“Very touching at this point. It seems unlikely that I would be able to provide appropriate answers to the questions. I’m sorry about that. We appreciate your contributions as journalists, both positive and, of course, occasionally negative. I believe that we will always be in that connection, and I hope that future cricket players will experience the same level of affection.”

Ashwin did, however, affirm that he will continue to play cricket. I’ll see you shortly. As a cricket player, I’ve just eliminated it. I may eventually become involved with the game because it has given me everything.

Emotional moments from the Indian dressing room #AUSvINDOnStar #BorderGavaskarTrophy #Ashwin #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/92a4NqNsyP

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 18, 2024

With 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Test matches, including 37 five-wicket hauls, Ashwin finishes as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, after Anil Kumble (619 wickets in 132 Tests), and seventh overall. In Test cricket, he and Shane Warne tied for second most with 67 fifers, only surpassed by Muttiah Muralitharan. In addition, he tied Muralitharan for the most Player of the Series accolades with 11.

His final appearance in an India shirt will be the pink-ball Test match against Australia in Adelaide, which India lost by 10 wickets. In that game, he came back with statistics of 1/53. Prior to that, Ashwin took nine wickets at 41.22 in the home Test series against New Zealand, which India lost 3-0.

Ashwin was not just a brilliant bowler but also a skilled batsman, amassing 3503 runs in Test matches, including six hundreds and 14 fifties. Ashwin was rarely utilised in international matches, despite being a near-constant starter in India’s XI during home Test matches. Ashwin will turn 39 at the start of the upcoming home season, and India will next play England on an away tour.

When asked about Ashwin’s choice, India captain Rohit Sharma described it as a “personal decision” and acknowledged that his absence would be noticed.

“I don’t think a lot of questions should be addressed or raised because certain decisions are really personal. Someone like Ashwin, who has supported us for so many years, is free to make those kinds of decisions on his own, and we as teammates must accept that. If a player has [made] a decision, he must be given that freedom. He was quite certain of his goals, and the team fully supported his way of thinking,” Rohit remarked.

“Obviously, there is currently a bit of a lull, so it is imperative that we as a team get back together and gather our thoughts on this. We have some time to consider our next course of action. Regarding Ash, however, he was quite certain of his choice.

“When I arrived in Perth, I learnt about the retirement plan. This has been on his mind ever since, and there are undoubtedly many factors that contributed to it, even though I was obviously absent for the first three or four days of the first Test match. Although I’m fairly certain Ash will be able to respond to that, he is aware of the team’s thoughts and the types of combinations we are considering. We were also unsure of which spinner would be used when we arrived. All we wanted to do was evaluate and observe the conditions that we encounter.

“However, once we had a conversation when I got to Perth, I managed to persuade him to stay for the pink-ball Test match. once that, it just happened so that if he thought I wasn’t needed in the series at the moment, I’d better bid the game farewell.

However, since we haven’t visited Melbourne yet, we are unsure of the kind of conditions and combination to anticipate there. However, we should respect Ash enough to let him think this way if that is what he believes, keeping him in mind in particular. Furthermore, we ought to all agree with his current viewpoint.

“That’s what I’m thinking at the moment, and Gautam Gambhir and I have also had conversations like that. When a player like him, who has played for the Indian team for a long time and has been a real match-winner for us, is given the freedom to make those choices on his own, it’s vital. If it was now, then so be it.”

Ashwin played for India in 116 ODIs and 65 T20Is, taking 156 and 72 wickets in those matches. He was a member of the teams that won the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. His final T20I was the 2022 World Cup semi-final defeat to England in Adelaide, while his last ODI was against Australia in the 2023 World Cup in Chennai, when he returned with statistics of 1/34.