India’s ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect last month.
The 38-year-old confirmed the decision while addressing the media in Brisbane, where the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test ended in a draw.
Ashwin’s sudden call shocked the entire cricket fraternity, including the legendary Anil Kumble, who suggested that the off-spinner deserved a grand farewell.
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 Kumble’s record tally of 619 dismissals.
“Ravichandran Ashwin is a matchwinner. He is a thorough professional who has excelled throughout his career. Every time you watch him bowl, you can see that he wants to get better and is trying to outwit the batter in any circumstance. You want to see that in any cricketer, and he’s done that for 14–15 years," wrote Kumble in his piece for Sportstar.
Ashwin was not part of India's playing XI for the Gabba Test. 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.
During his illustrious career, Ashwin played only 26 Tests in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries.
Kumble highlighted the failure of the Indian team management in utilizing Ashwin to his fullest in overseas conditions.
“Unfortunately, the team management did not consistently select Ashwin to play in England, South Africa, and Australia, which has always perplexed me. With Ravindra Jadeja bowling in tandem, India could have had these two in every match. Ashwin has consistently picked wickets on every surface he has played on. So to typecast him as a spinner, mostly in subcontinent conditions, is not fair."
Much has been said about Ashwin’s decision to retire midway through the Australia tour, and Kumble expressed his disappointment on the same.
“Players who have contributed for such a long period deserve a grand farewell. They need to be sat down and offered an appropriate plan on how you want them to leave the game. I was very disappointed with the way Ashwin left," Kumble wrote.
“Many cricketers in the past missed out on a farewell, too. The kind of benchmarks he has set won’t be easy for anyone to live up to. He served Indian cricket with distinction," he further remarked.
