Ravichandran Ashwin made a special mention for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara during his retirement speech on Wednesday after the veteran off-spinner bid adieu to international cricket after an illustrious career that spanned for 14 years. Ashwin’s retirement from international cricket came moments after India drew the third Test against Australia in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT).
The 38-year-old retirement was already on the cards when Virat Kohli was caught hugging the off-spinner on Wednesday morning, the visuals of which went viral on social media. Approving the visuals, Ashwin accompanied captain Rohit Sharma in the post-match press conference and eventually announced about his retirement.
“I think it would be unfortunate to have me around his side (on sitting with Rohit at the PC), since he has announced I’m not going to take too much of your time, this will be my last year as an Indian cricketer at the international level. There’s a bit left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to exploit it at the domestic and club-level cricket, but this would be the last day (at the international level),” Ashwin said.
“I have had a lot of fun, a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates. We’ve lost some of them over the last few years, we’ve been the last bunch of OGs I can say that are left out in the dressing room. I can mark this as my last day in the dressing room. I have several people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and my teammates.
“I want to name a few of them, all the coaches who’ve been part of the journey, most importantly Rohit, Virat, Ajinkya, Pujara, who have taken a number of catches around the bat and have given men a number of wickets that I’ve managed over a number of years. Also want to thank the Australian team who’ve been fierce competitors over a number of years, I’ve enjoyed my team playing against them.
“I’ve stopped as a cricketer, but I’ll go on and be involved with the game, it’s a game which has given me a lot,” he said. In the ongoing series against Australia, Ashwin played just one game in Adelaide, taking one wicket and scoring 29 runs in total.
Ravichandran Ashwin stats
Ashwin retires from the game as the second highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 537 scalps in 106 games, placing him only behind the great Anil Kumble (619 wickets) in the overall statistics. He has also played 116 ODIs for India, claiming 156 wickets, while his 65 T20I outings yielded 72 scalps. He will continue to play club cricket, including the IPL, where he will return to play for Chennai Super Kings next year.
Meanwhile, Ashwin will fly back to India immediately and will not travel with the side to Melbourne and Sydney for India final two Tests in the BGT.
