“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin said after the Brisbane Test in a press conference. “I feel like I have some strength left as a cricketer, but I would like to express it and probably show it in cricket at club level, but this will be the last day.” [for India].
“Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and my teammates. Several of them. I want to name a few of them. All the coaches who have been part of the journey. Most importantly , Rohit, Virat. [Kohli]Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have taken those splendid catches around the bat to give me the number of wickets I have achieved over the years.
“Also a big thank you to the Australian cricket team who have been a very fierce competitor. I have enjoyed my time playing against them.”
Ashwin said he would not take questions from the media and was there only to make the news public: “It really is a very emotional moment. I don’t think I’m in a position where I’m answering questions.” in the right way. Please forgive me for that. Thank you for being the journalists you have been, writing good things and, of course, writing unpleasant things at times. That’s a relationship I think we would maintain forever, and I hope the cricketers come. In the future you will also get the same amount of love.”
And finally, he confirmed that he would remain connected with the game, and possibly not just as a cricketer in the IPL (now part of Chennai Super Kings) or the TNPL (Dindigul Dragons). “See you soon. As a cricketer, I have just quit. I could still be involved in the game, because it is a game that has given me everything.”
He was bought by CSK, his first IPL team, for INR 9.75 crore in last month’s mega auction, and will play for them in IPL 2025.
Rohit, sitting next to Ashwin as the latter made his announcement to the press, said: “Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has [made] an option, he should be given that option, and someone like Ashwin, who has been there for us for so many years, can make those kinds of decisions on his own and we as teammates should respect that. He was very sure of what he wanted to do and the team has full support in his thought process.
“Just keeping Ash in mind, giving him that respect that if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way. And we should all stand up for what he’s thinking right now.”
Rohit Sharma on R Ashwin’s retirement
“Obviously, there is a small gap [between Tests] Now, for us as a team to regroup and gather our thoughts on this is very, very crucial right now. We have some time to think about how we should move forward. But speaking of Ash, he was very, very sure of his decision.
“Listen [about the plan to retire] when I arrived in Perth. Obviously I wasn’t there for the first three or four days of the first Test match, but this was on his mind ever since and obviously there’s a lot of things behind it. I’m pretty sure Ash will be in a position to answer that, but he understands what the team is thinking, he understands what kind of combinations we’re thinking about, and when we got here too, we weren’t sure which spinner was going to work. to play. We just wanted to evaluate and see what kind of conditions we have in front of us.
“But when I got to Perth, we had a chat and I somehow convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test match and then it just happened that if I felt that if I wasn’t needed at this point in the series, I’d better I said goodbye to the game.
“But obviously we haven’t been to Melbourne yet, so we don’t know what kind of conditions we expect there and what kind of combination. But having Ash particularly in mind, giving him that respect, if this is what he thinks, we should let him think that way.” way and we should all stand up for what he is thinking right now.
“That’s what I’m thinking now and that’s the kind of conversation we’ve had too, Gautam Gambhir and I too. It’s important when a player like him, who has had so many moments with the Indian team and is really a big game winner for us and he’s allowed to make those decisions on his own and if he was now, so be it.”
Ashwin ends his Test career as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format, with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests, only behind Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets in 132 Tests.
He played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night match at Adelaide. In the previous series, the 3-0 home loss to New Zealand, Ashwin had taken just nine wickets at an average of 41.22.
As he is not a regular in the XI in India’s overseas matches and his next Test series will be an away tour of England, Ashwin will be 39 when India’s next home season arrives.
