The Indian captain Rohit Sharma has opened on his fellow teammate Ravichandran Ashwin after the veteran spinner made his retirement announcement during the post-match conference of the third test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
The 38-year-old Ashwin made the announcement when he came along with Rohit Sharma to address the reporters shortly after the third test ended in a draw on Tuesday.
Rohit reflected on the loss for words following Ashwin’s announcement, calling the spinner one of the biggest ‘match winners’ the country has ever produced.
“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 on his mind since then.”
🗣️ “I’ve had a lot of fun and created a lot of memories.”
All-rounder R Ashwin reflects after bringing the curtain down on a glorious career 👌👌#TeamIndia | #ThankYouAshwin | @ashwinravi99 pic.twitter.com/dguzbaousg
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 18, 2024
Ravichandran Ashwin finished his career as the second-highest Indian wicket-taker in tests with 537 scalps. Rohit revealed that he first got to know about the decision upon his arrival in Perth.
But he was added to the Indian squad to convince the veteran off-spinner to take part in the Park-ball Adelaide Test.
“There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it; I’m pretty sure, Ash, when he went in position, will be able to answer that,” Rohit told reporters at the post-match press conference.
“He understands what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking of. When we came here as well, we were not sure about which spinner was going to 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.
Ashwin was the first bowler to reach 100 wickets in the WTC cycle, reaching the mark in 2022.
“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,” said Rohit Sharma.
“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. He looks a very witty character, as you saw in his press conference. He is a very funny guy, there’s no doubt about that,” the skipper said.
“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.
“Since 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.
“You know, he’s been such a servant of Indian cricket where he’s probably not left any stone unturned,” said Rohit Sharma.
Ashwin retires from the game as India’s second highest wicket-taker in tests with 537 scalps in 106 games only behind Anil Kumble who has 619 wickets.
Ashwin has made 116 ODI appearance with 156 wickets while has 72 wickets in 65 T20Is.
He bids goodbye to the game as the highest wicket-taker in the WTC across three editions with a total of 195 scalps to his name. Ashwin has 37 five wicket hauls in test and are only second to former spinner Muttiah Muralidharan who has 67 five wicket hauls.
