Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from the international arena with immediate effect on Wednesday (December 18).
The 38-year-old confirmed his decision while addressing the press conference at the end of the Gabba Test against Australia, which ended in a draw.
Ashwin’s sudden retirement call reminded former India head coach Shastri of MS Dhoni’s move to step aside from Test cricket midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2014-15.
Speaking on SEN Cricket, Shastri revealed that none of the players had any clue about Dhoni's Test retirement.
"Like MS Dhoni, he didn't wait. He just walked in here. I was the coach. He said, "Ravi, I need to have a chat with the boys for 5 minutes" after we drew the game at the MCG. So I said, sure, you might be saying, you know, boys, well done to draw this game or things that he just said thank you. I'm done with Test cricket. I said there was one test match to go with. I just, you know, just, just walked up there, 5 minute speech, no tantrums, no, you know, no shenanigans. I'm done. Thank you very much for your support. You know, I won't be there in Sydney. But my total support to you guys because after that it was the World Cup, yeah, and he was going to play. He was the captain of the World Cup side, but it's just that, so you know. These days there's so much of cricket. There's IPL cricket. There's other cricket who, if you think you've had enough here, players will just walk away," Shastri said.
Dhoni represented India in 90 Test matches, amassing 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09, including six hundreds and 33 half-centuries.
Shastri added, "None of the boys knew. So I looked around the dressing room. I said, Did he have a chat with you? Did he have a chat with you? No one had a clue. Even the guys who went out or spent time with him 3 days before that. No one had a clue he was going to come and say what he did. And he played 94 or 95 test matches. Normally, you know, in India, a player of his stature, if he plays his 100th test match, and they're given that test match to say Ranchi. The whole town would have been there on the grounds, you know, to celebrate that 100th test match, but none of that stuff for him. He just said 'I wanted to pack my bags. I'm done with whites.'"
Ashwin accompanied skipper Rohit Sharma for the press-conference, where he made a rather quick announcement about his retirement.
“There's a bit left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to exploit it at the domestic and club-level cricket, but this would be the last day (at the international level),” Ashwin told reporters.
“I have had a lot of fun, a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates. We've lost some of them over the last few years, we've been the last bunch of OGs I can say that are left out in the dressing room. I can mark this as my last day in the dressing room,” he added.
After wrapping up the post-match presser, Ashwin collected a signed Australia jersey from his off-spin counterpart Nathan Lyon and skipper Pat Cummins. He then delivered a stirring farewell speech in the Indian dressing room.
“The international cricketer in me might have come to an end, but the cricket nut in me will never come to an end. All the very best. If at all, you guys need anything, I am just a phone call away,” Ashwin said.
Ashwin represented his country in 106 Tests, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is, picking up 765 wickets across all formats. He finished his career as India's second highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 537 scalps to his name.
