R Ashwin retired with 537 Test, 156 ODI and 72 T20I wickets to his name.
Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has shared his reasons why ace spinner R Ashwin decided to retire from international cricket. Ashwin decided at the end of the third BGT 2024 Test against Australia in Brisbane. He didn’t give any reasons and only revealed that he is done as an Indian cricketer.
Gavaskar cited India’s upcoming Test series and speculated that Ashwin lost his steam and realized the lack of opportunities in the future, which played a key role in his decision to retire from international cricket.
Gavaskar further added that India will only play at home in Tests in October next year and their next big red-ball assignment will be the five-Test series in England. And the 38-year-old spinner knew that he wasn’t going to feature in the playing XI and hence saw it better to retire.
"It was coming—for sure. Because, look, India is not playing anything now until next year. There is just the five-Test match series in England. And clearly, I think what has happened is that Ashwin, who's been a wonderful player for India, saw that he was not being considered in the playing 11 when India played overseas. It's been an aspect that has been there for the last several tours: when you go to South Africa, you go to Australia, you go to England.
He doesn't get selected in the 11. So I think at that, recognising that the England tour was going to be the next five test series and perhaps thinking that he might not get picked, he decided to call it a day. So in, in a sense it was coming,” Gavaskar told India Today.
Despite a record-breaking wicket tally at home in Test cricket, including the top strike rate and the most five-wicket hauls, Ashwin appeared in only 26 SENA matches across a 13-year career, taking 72 wickets at 39.55.
Ashwin is India's second-highest wicket-taker, after only Anil Kumble with 765 international wickets. Ashwin has captured 537 wickets in 106 Tests, averaging 24. He is also ranked eighth among all wicket-takers.
If Ashwin had continued to play international cricket, he may have become India's all-time leading wicket-taker in Test cricket.
"He could have gone on to do that for sure. But did he want to do that? That's the thing. Did he want to be under that? You know, look, you might take, you know, you might score hundreds of hundreds. You might; you might take, you know, plenty of five, five-wicket hauls or 10-wicket hauls in test matches. But that drive, do you have that drive," Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar echoed Rohit Sharma's statement from the post-match press conference on Wednesday, in which the India captain stated that he had to persuade Ashwin to play the second Test in Adelaide.
"Rohit Sharma said that he had to persuade him to play the Adelaide Test, which means that even for the Adelaide Test, the previous Test, Ashwin wasn't really in the mental sort of frame, maybe, to play that test match. That's, I think, what would have been, that certainly would have been the consideration that he was not going to be the number one pick.
And look, anybody who's got 500 plus wickets, 530, 540 wickets like he has, there is pride in your own performance. There is a feeling that you know you are somebody who has delivered in the past, and therefore, when you are not selected, it hurts you. It hurts you," he added.
R Ashwin retired with 537 Test, 156 ODI, and 72 T20I wickets to his name.