R Ashwin retires from international cricket. (Photo Source – Twitter/X)
Ravichandran Ashwin has retired from international cricket with immediate effect. He announced his decision after the rain-marred third Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Brisbane’s Gabba ended in a draw.
“This will be my last year as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin told media in Brisbane. “I feel there’s a little bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I’d like to express that, showcase that in club-level cricket.
“I’ve had a lot of fun. I have made a lot of memories alongside Rohit [Sharma] and several of my team-mates, even though we’ve lost some of them [to retirements] over the last few years. We’re the last bunch of OGs, we can say that. I will be marking this as my date of having played at this level.
“Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I will be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and fellow team-mates.”
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Emotional moments from the Indian dressing room 🥹#AUSvINDOnStar #BorderGavaskarTrophy #Ashwin #ViratKohli pic.twitter.com/92a4NqNsyP
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 18, 2024
Ashwin ends as the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket behind Anil Kumble (619 wickets in 132 Tests) – and seventh overall – with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests including 37 five-wicket hauls. He finished joint second-highest with Shane Warne on the list of most fifers in Test cricket, only behind Muttiah Muralitharan’s 67. He also bagged 11 Player of the Series awards, joint best with Muralitharan.
The pink-ball Test against Australia in Adelaide, which India lost by 10 wickets, will remain his last outing in an India shirt. He returned with figures of 1/53 in that game. Before that, Ashwin claimed nine wickets at 41.22 against New Zealand in the home Test series, which India lost 3-0.
In addition to his bowling genius, Ashwin was a proficient batter, with a tally of 3503 runs in Tests, including six hundreds and 14 fifties. While he was nearly always a sure starter in India’s XI in home Tests, Ashwin was sparsely used in overseas fixtures. With India next in line to play England in an away tour, Ashwin will be 39 by the arrival of the next home season.
Asked to comment on Ashwin’s decision, India skipper Rohit Sharma termed it a “personal decision”, admitting that his absence will be felt.
“Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has [made] a choice, he has to be given that choice, and somebody like Ashwin who has been there for us for so many years is allowed to make those kind of decisions on his own and we as team-mates have to respect it. He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team has complete backing of his thought process,” Rohit said.
“Obviously, there’s a bit of gap now so for us, as a team, to regroup and collect our thoughts on this is very, very crucial right now. We’ve got some time to think about how we need to proceed further. But speaking about Ash, he was very, very sure about his decision.”
Ashwin, a part of the 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy winning squads, also represented India in 116 ODIs and 65 T20Is, claiming 156 and 72 wickets respectively. His last ODI came against Australia in the 2023 World Cup in Chennai, where he returned with figures of 1/34, while his final T20I was the 2022 World Cup semi-final loss against England in Adelaide.