"This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer"
India spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin shocked the cricket world when he announced his retirement from international cricket.
His retirement is with immediate effect, bringing an end to a career in which he claimed 765 wickets for his country across the formats.
The 38-year-old made the announcement after India’s draw with Australia in the Brisbane Test, a game he was not selected for.
He said: “This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level.
“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.”
With 537, Ashwin is India’s second-highest Test wicket-taker, with only Anil Kumble ahead of him.
He also claimed 156 one-day international wickets and 72 in T20 internationals.
Ashwin’s number of Test five-wicket hauls (37) is only eclipsed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (67).
Ashwin also struck 3,503 Test runs, with six hundreds and 14 half-centuries.
Ashwin, who is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in men’s Test cricket, added:
“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.
“Most importantly, Rohit, Virat [Kohli], Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have taken some of the catches around the bat and given me the number of wickets I’ve managed to get over the years.”
After making the unexpected announcement, teammates and other cricket figures paid tribute to Ravichandran Ashwin.
I’ve played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you’re retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me. I’ve enjoyed every bit of the journey with you ash, your skill and match winning contributions to Indian… pic.twitter.com/QGQ2Z7pAgc
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) December 18, 2024
Harbhajan Singh tweeted: “Congratulations on a phenomenal cricket career.
“Your ambition as a test cricketer was admirable.
“Well done for being the flag bearer of Indian spin for more than a decade. Be very proud of your achievements and hopefully see you more often now.”
Former England international Michael Vaughan wrote:
“Thanks @ashwinravi99. Have loved watching you play for India.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins said Ashwin will “go down as one of the all-time greats”.
He said: “He’s obviously been a fantastic player all around the world.
“There aren’t that many finger spinners that have that kind of longevity. There’s a massive respect from our changing room for the career that he’s had.”
Meanwhile, India’s captain Rohit Sharma said he knew Ashwin was planning to retire.
He said:
“I somehow convinced him to stay for the [Adelaide Test].”
“It just happened that if he felt he was not needed right now in the series, he was better off saying goodbye to the game.
“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.
“He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team has complete backing of his thought process.
“It’s important a player like him, who has had so many moments with the Indian team and been a truly a big match-winner for us, is allowed to make those decisions on his own.
“If it was now, so be it.”
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