India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced international retirement after the end of the Gabba Test against Australia. The 38-year-old Ashwin made the announcement as he came along with captain Rohit Sharma to address the reporters after the third Test against Australia that ended in a draw on Tuesday. Rohit Sharma was clearly lost for words following Ashwin’s announcement, calling the spinner one of the biggest “match-winners” the country has ever produced.
Ashwin finishes his career as the second-highest Indian wicket-taker in Tests with 537 wickets to his name. Rohit Sharma revealed that he convinced Ashwin to stay for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, as the off-spinner had already decided what he wanted to do when the team landed in Perth.
“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 told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“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,” he added.
Speaking further, Rohit said, “It just happened so that if you know where he felt that, ‘if I’m not needed right now in the series, I’m better off. Saying goodbye to the game, but obviously, we’ve not been to Melbourne yet, so we don’t know what sort of conditions we expect there and what sort of combination, but just keeping Ash in particularly in mind, giving him that respect that this if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way and we should all stand by.”
‘Truly a big match winner’
Rohit Sharma spoke highly of Ashwin, saying he has been a big match-winner for India, helping the side win plenty of Tests at home. “He is a big match-winner for us. He is allowed to make those decisions on his own, and if it was now, so be it. His look is a very witty character, as you saw in his press conference. He is a very funny guy, there’s no doubt about that.”
“I’ve played cricket with Ash since under 17; he was an opener batsman then, and then a few years later, we all disappeared and then suddenly I’m hearing news about Tamil Nadu R Ashwin taking five wickets, seven wickets, and I was wondering who this guy is because I played him as a batsman and then suddenly he’s turned out to be a bowler who’s taking fifers and then obviously, you know at international cricket we met again, and then we had a long long journey together,” he added.
“ince 2010, so it’s been a long time playing together, we all know what he’s done for this team. So I don’t need to repeat it again and again, but a true match winner that India has ever seen, you know, one of the true match winners that India has ever seen in the form of his Ashwin, you know, whenever there was a crisis we had to look upon Ash, and then he was there to deliver for us so his records speaks for itself as well,” said Rohit.
Rohit did not stop there as he labelled Ashwin a big servant of Indian cricket, saying, “You know, he’s been such a servant of Indian cricket where he’s probably not left any on any stone unturned.”
Speaking of Ashwin, the premier spinner played just one Test in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He was named in the playing XI for the Adelaide pink-ball Test, where he scalped just one wicket.
He played 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is for India, taking 775 wickets across all formats. In Tests, Ashwin scalped 537 wickets.
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