R Ashwin announced his international retirement on December 18 after the conclusion of the third BGT 2024 Test in Brisbane. Ashwin did the same during the post-match press conference but didn’t elaborate on reasons why he chose to retire in the middle of the five-Test series.
Reports claimed that Ashwin, who has been battling a knee injury for a long time, had a conversation with captain Rohit Sharma upon his arrival in Australia last month.
However, former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh claimed that retirement was on his mind after he realized Washington Sundar was moving up the order ahead of him.
Sundar was included in the Indian Test side for the home series against New Zealand after playing his last Test in 2021. And the Tamil Nadu lad repaid the faith of chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir with an 11-wicket haul in Pune and an all-round show in Wankhede.
This led to the BCCI selectors backing him for the Australia tour as well. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder was preferred over the veteran pair of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin for the first Test in Perth.
Ashwin replaced Sundar in the second test, but he only took one wicket before being benched in Brisbane in favor of Jadeja, who scored a fighting half-century to help India avoid a follow-on.
Harbhajan Singh revealed that Ashwin was a frontrunner for a slot in the playing XI for either the Melbourne or Sydney Tests against Australia, therefore the announcement was "shocking" to him. However, he appreciated the judgment and heaped admiration on the "match-winning bowler."
"I am shocked by their decision. It is certainly surprising for such a big decision to come in the middle of an ongoing series. Perhaps we were expecting to see him in Sydney and Melbourne because the role of spinners is very important there, but we should respect his decision. He must have taken this decision after thinking very carefully. He is a very big bowler. I salute his achievements. He has been a match-winning bowler and has won many matches for India. I wish him all the best for his future," Harbhajan Singh said to Dainik Jagran.
Harbhajan also alleged that Ashwin might have had an inkling that management would now be preferring the younger Washington Sundar with an eye on the future. The ex-India spinner further pointed out that India’s next home Test series is in October next year.
The immediate Test assignment for India after this tour will be the tour of England for five Tests. He stated that the BCCI selectors will only pick two spinners in the squad and might prefer Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. Even the last time India traveled to England in 2021, Ashwin was benched for the entire five-Test series.
"As far as I have received information, the Indian team has to play Test cricket at home in October next year and before that, it has to play five matches with England. When you have such good records, so many wickets to your name,e and when you are included in the playing eleven on foreign tours.
From what I am hearing from here and there, perhaps it is in Ashwin's mind that now Washington Sundar will be given preference in his place. Five matches have to be played in England, where only two spinners will be going, who will be those spinners, so many things will be going on in their mind. All I can say is that this decision must not have been so easy for him," he said.
R Ashwin retires with 765 wickets to his name for India in international cricket.
