Ashwin retired from international cricket last month.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket last month, added fuel to the debate on whether Hindi is a "national language" or not.
The legendary off-spinner on Thursday (January 9) attended the graduation ceremony at a private engineering college in Chennai, where he remarked that Hindi is not a "national language" but an "official language."
As soon as Ashwin took the stage to speak, he asked how many attendees understood English. He then posed the same question about Tamil and Hindi.
“English students in the house..give me a yay. Tamil?" asked Ashwin. The students erupted into loud roar upon hearing Tamil.
He then asked, "Okay... Hindi?" Upon observing little to no cheer inside the college, the spinner said, "I thought I should say this: Hindi is an official language and not the national language."
It is worth mentioning here that the Constitution of India terms Hindi as an "official language." However, the use of the language in Tamil Nadu has always been a controversial topic.
During the event, Ashwin said he never pursued captaincy despite several fans and pundits suggesting that he would have done well in the leadership role.
"When someone says I can't do it, I wake up to accomplish it, but if they say I can, I lose interest," Ashwin stated.
Ashwin announced his international retirement midway through the recently held Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under.
The 38-year-old represented India in 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is, picking up 765 wickets across all formats. He finished his career as the country’s second highest wicket-taker (537 scalps) in Test cricket, only behind Anil Kumble’s record tally of 619 dismissals.
While announcing his retirement, Ashwin 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.”
Ashwin will turn up for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2025 season. The five-time champions splashed INR 9.75 crore to secure his services during the mega auction in December 2024.