Ashwin retired from international cricket with immediate effect after the end of the Gabba Test last month.
Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from the international arena with immediate effect last month. His decision came after the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane ended in a draw.
The 38-year-old was not part of India's playing XI at the Gabba. He was also left out of the line-up for the series opener in Perth but played in the second Test at the Adelaide Oval, where he claimed one wicket and scored 29 runs across two innings.
While Ashwin did not mention any specific reason behind his sudden call, reports claimed that two reasons played a big part in it. One was his prolonged back issue, and the second being that he wasn't a guaranteed selection in overseas conditions anymore.
Ashwin's father, Ravichandran, alleged that his son was continually humiliated, which may have contributed to his retirement announcement midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, the legendary off-spinner himself dismissed such notion while also clarifying that his 'dad isn't media trained'.
In a chat with former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath on YouTube, ex-India bowling coach Bharat Arun suggested that the team management's decision to play Washington Sundar in Perth may have prompted Ashwin to take such a big call.
"In the very first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him," Arun said.
Badrinath also echoed his opinion, saying Ashwin never took offense when Ravindra Jadeja was picked ahead of him in overseas conditions but the Sundar decision is likely to have hurt him.
"In the past, Ravindra Jadeja played ahead of Ashwin a lot in overseas tours but I don't think Ashwin was affected by that. But I feel that this time around, he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order," Badrinath said.
"Jadeja was slightly ahead of Ashwin on batting, and he was a left-hander as well. I myself have, at times, personally explained to Ashwin the reason for picking Jadeja over him. Ashwin took it [the reasoning] very well, too," Arun answered.
"But here, after having played so much top-level cricket, the tour got off to a false start for him. I think he would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures. But they dropped him for the very first Test, then played him in a pink-ball Test, and then dropped him again for the third Test."
"After this sequence of events, Ashwin might have thought to himself that it's best to move on," he further remarked.
Ashwin 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 the legendary Anil Kumble’s record tally of 619 dismissals.