R Ashwin retired after taking 765 runs in international cricket for India from 2010 to 2024.
R Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket after the third BGT 2024 Test between Australia and India in Brisbane on December 18, 2024. Ashwin didn’t play in the Gabba Test and only appeared in one Test, in Adelaide.
Ashwin retired after playing 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is for India from 2010 to 2024 and picked 537, 156, and 72 wickets respectively. He also scored 3503 runs in Tests with 6 centuries and 14 fifties at an average near 25.
While Ashwin refused to take any questions during the press conference and didn’t reveal the reasons behind his decision to retire, his father Ravichandran, has opened a pandora’s box, claiming that the off-spinner might have felt humiliated to take this decision.
In an exclusive interview with CNN News18, Ashwin's father, Ravichandran, claimed that his son was continually humiliated, which may have contributed to his retirement announcement midway through India's current tour of Australia.
“I too came to know last minute, actually. That was going on in his mind I don’t know. He just announced. I too accepted it with full pleasure. I did not have any feeling at all for that. But the way he gave his retirement, one part I was very happy, another part not happy because he should have continued,” Ravichandran told CNN News18.
While Ravichandran cannot pinpoint the specific reason Ashwin ended his India career, he did suggest that not being a regular in the playing XI despite his excellent record must have felt humiliating.
“(Retiring) is his (Ashwin’s) wish and desire, I cannot interfere in that, but how he gave that, there could be many reasons. Only Ashwin knows, maybe humiliation," he said.
India captain Rohit Sharma has revealed that Ashwin had retirement on his mind and told him about the same when he landed in Perth. Rohit claimed that it was he who convinced Ashwin to stay put and play in the second Test in Adelaide, where he took one wicket and made 7 and 22 runs.
Notably, despite the presence of R Ashwin in the squad, Indian team management opted for Washington Sundar over him as the off-spinner in XI for the first Test in Perth.
Though Ashwin's family was stunned, they felt the offspinner's retirement was inevitable because of the ongoing 'humiliation'.
“Definitely, no doubt about it (being emotional for the family), because he was on the field for 14-15 years. The sudden change – retirement – gave us really kind of a shock. At the same time, we were expecting it because humiliation was going on. How long can he tolerate all those things? Probably, he would have decided on his own," Ravichandran said.
Ravichandran says he played little role in Ashwin’s cricket career except for taking him to practice sessions on his bike.
“I used to take him by bike and drop him off for practice. I did not get involved much in his cricket. What I did was to encourage him to focus on both studies and cricket. At home I used to talk to him that’s all. Rest he did it (on his own). I did not do anything because of his intelligence and brilliance he came up on his own. I did not help him that much in cricket, but on his own and with his brain work, he did everything (by himself)," he said.
Ashwin has returned home in Tamil Nadu with his family.