India legend Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed the reason behind his decision to retire midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 series in Australia. However, former India captain Kapil Dev Ravichandran expressed disappointment with Ashwin’s decision, adding that he should have waited.
India tested three spinners during the first three Tests of the BGT. Washington Sundar played the first match and was replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin in the second match. Ravindra Jadeja replaced Ashwin for the third Test. Ashwin surprised everyone with his retirement announcement after the third Test in Brisbane.
Ravichandran Ashwin is a very strong headed guy – Kapil Dev
Speaking to Gulf News, Kapil Dev spoke about Ashwin’s decision to retire in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. Dev suggested that Ashwin might wait until after the Sydney Test to announce, adding that his timing might be better.
“Ashwin is a very strong-headed guy. It is nice to see such characters in cricketers. I was a little sad when he left in the middle of the tour. He was a great cricketer that India had prepared and served the game very well, but he should have waited and done it differently. However, what he has done for the country is unimaginable,” said Kapil.
The 38-year-old spinner’s output was below his usual standards in the home series against New Zealand, taking nine wickets at an average of 41.22. Ashwin retired with 537 runs in 106 Tests, including 37 five-wicket hauls. He was behind only Anil Kumble (619) among all-time Indian wicket-takers.
Sundar – Bharat may have suffered from pushing Arun behind
Former bowling coach Bharat Arun said Ashwin may have been “injured” after being replaced by Washington Sundar in the first Test. Arun added that although Ashwin had been replaced by Ravindra Jadeja in overseas tours earlier, this situation affected him more.
“In the first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was dropped for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would have definitely hurt him. In the past, Ravindra Jadeja used to play ahead of Ashwin on overseas tours, but I don’t. I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that, but I feel this time he was hurt by being pushed behind Sundar order” said Bharat Arun.
Ravichandran Ashwin is ranked 8th in the List of Leading Test Wickets
Ravichandran Ashwin retired as India’s second highest wicket-taker in international cricket, trailing only Anil Kumble (953) with 765 wickets across all formats. Ashwin is 8th among the leading wicket takers in Test cricket. He also scored 3,503 runs at an average of 25.76 in Tests, including six centuries.
The all-time leading Test wicket-taker is Muttiah Muralitharan (800), followed by Shane Warne (708) and James Anderson (704). Ashwin, who is expected to continue playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, was bought for a whopping Rs 9.75 crore in the mega auction.
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