Ashwin announces retirement from all formats of cricket
Former Indian bowler and a pillar in the Indian cricket team, Ravichandran Ashwin, has quit international cricket. They made the announcement following the conclusion of the third Test in the on-going Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at Brisbane.
News Arena Network - New Delhi - UPDATED: December 18, 2024, 06:36 PM - 2 min read
Ashwin bids farewell to international cricket after Brisbane Test.
Former Indian bowler and a pillar in the Indian cricket team, Ravichandran Ashwin, has quit international cricket. He made the announcement following the conclusion of the third Test in the on-going Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at Brisbane.
Gone is over a decade of immense contribution for the Indian cricket team, and spinner Ashwin announced he will fly back to India on Thursday.
At a press conference, Ashwin said it was a sobbing and challenging decision to make. He expresses his gratitude to his teammates, to the coaches and to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the support extended to him in the course of his cricketing career.
He rated his seniors like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara who he said were always keen on ground around the bat which enhanced his job as a bowler. Ashwin also thanked the Australian cricket team for being excellent rivals that made him play as the best he could offer.
Ashwin said that although he still believes he has more cricket left in him, his contributions in the future will be restricted to domestic cricket.
He said that he would remain associated with the sport and gave a hint about possible future endeavors other than playing cricket and reaffirmed that he loves cricket and how much the sport is important to him.
The veteran off-spinner was keen to point out that this decision was his and his alone. Not allowing questions during the announcement, he asked for empathy, because he was overwhelmed, and could not answer properly.
He paid his tribute to the media who exposed his work, he stated that positive and negative daggers are vital in his career.
Ashwin’s fellow Indian cricketer and the captain, Rohit Sharma, was also present during the announcement and backed Ashwin up. Rohit stressed that such choices need to be honored, more so for a bowler of Ashwin class, who has been so impactful for Indian cricket.
He said Ashwin had his mind set prior to the series and was merely thinking of when the right time would be to pull out. Rohit dubbed Ashwin as a match-winner and at the same time, convinced him that he remains highly valued within the team.
Ashwin plays his last Test match as an Indian cricketer as the second best wicket-taker in test cricket for India with a total 537 wickets in 106 tests at an average of 24.
Image Credits - BCCI X
He is also standing second in the list of World’s most wickets, Anil Kumble holding the first position with 619 wickets. Ashwin also has been a fine batsman in the lower order and has aggregated 3503 runs with six hundreds and 14 fifties and is one of the premier all-round cricketers in the world.
The record is rare, even today, only eleven players in the history of Test cricket have scored more than 3000 runs as well as taking 300 wickets as all-rounders.
The international career of the veteran spinner started in the year 2010 and it has many milestones to its credit. He was a key player in India’s success in the 2011 world cup and a class apart in one day, test as well as T20 cricket.
He has also featured in 116 One Day Internationals, across 65 T20Is where he has picked up 156 and 72 wickets.
He did not only contribute in just statistical manner as he was known to produce his best when the occasion demanded it. Ashwin has not been part of the Indian line-up since October 2023 in any limited-overs match during the World Cup.
Ashwin’s career also shows that the player has a great deal of flexibility in his character. Technique amalgamated with strategy enabled him to achieve 11 Player-of-the-Series award – matches the record previously set by the Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan.
While Ashwin managed to bowl those 50 plus test delivery quotas year after year in tests conducted in the subcontinent, he was not always able to bowl the same quota in overseas tests especially in the recent past.
One wicket in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide was able to illustrate his best in the last Test match for now, while the further path of the future cricket player remains the secret.
Ashwin’s presence will remain in the domestic cricket zones. He was bought by the Chennai Super Kings in the last auction for a whopping ₹9.75 crore in the Indian Premier League.
Which means that Ashwin, indeed will continue his association with competitive cricket thus guaranteeing fans will have the chance to see his wizardry on the pitch again.
As the Indian cricket team bids a goodbye to one of its superstars, Ashwin, the cricketer, the tactician, the match-winner, the team inspiration that he was will always be remembered. He takes leave of a great era, and cricket as a sport will always appreciate the efforts of the man.
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