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Ravichandran Ashwin Retirement: The 38-year-old announced his retirement from international cricket following the Gabba Test.
A visibly emotional Ravichandran Ashwin getting a warm hug from Virat Kohli. (Screengrab)
India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, marking the end of his illustrious 14-year career. The announcement came after the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane. Before sharing the news, Ashwin was seen having a heartfelt conversation with former India captain Virat Kohli during a rain break. As Ashwin got emotional, Kohli even hugged him and the touching moment quickly went viral on social media.
The 38-year-old spinner, who is India’s second-leading wicket-taker in both international and Test cricket, revealed his decision during a media interaction in Brisbane, alongside Rohit Sharma.
What did Ashwin say during the press conference?
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at an international level. I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer but I would like to showcase that in club-level cricket,” he said at the press conference.
Read| Ravichandran Ashwin Announces Retirement From International Cricket
He added, “I’ve had a lot of fun, I’ve made a lot of memories with Rohit (Sharma) and several of my other teammates, even though we’ve lost some of them over the last few years. We are the last bunch of OGs if we can say that.”
Ashwin described it as an “emotional moment”, adding, “I don’t think I’m in a position where I’d be answering the questions in the right way.”
He concluded, “Thanks for being the journalists you’ve been, writing good things and of course nasty things on occasion. That’s a relationship I think I will maintain forever.”
How did social media users react?
Soon after, netizens, who had already been speculating about his retirement, began flooding social media with heartfelt tributes.
“Will miss you Ashwin. You deserved one WTC Title and one Captaincy stint at least,” wrote an individual while sharing pictures of Ashwin and Kohli together.
Another hailed him as one of the greatest cricketer ever and wrote, “537 wickets in Tests. 156 wickets in ODIs. 72 wickets in T20I.”
“Some call him a great spinner, some call him a great batter, some call him a magician, some call him a YouTuber. But to me, he will always remain the greatest choreographer who made MS Dhoni dance. Peak Ashwin era!” said a third.
some call him a great spinner, some call him a great batter, some call him a magician, some call him a youtuber. but to me, he will always remain the greatest choreographer who made ms dhoni dance. peak ashwin era! pic.twitter.com/LmAF9nnQQ1— Neeche Se Topper (@NeecheSeTopper) December 18, 2024
“We as teammates have to respect it. He was very sure of what he wanted to do. Team has the complete backing of his thought process. There’s a gap for us as a team to recollect our thoughts. We can think about how to proceed further. He was very very sure of this decision,” said Rohit.
Ravichandran Ashwin made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Harare in June 2010, followed by his first T20I later that month, also in Harare, against Zimbabwe. He then made his Test debut against the West Indies in November 2011.
The off-spinner ended his Test career with an impressive 537 wickets from 106 matches. He also clinched 156 wickets in 116 ODIs and 72 wickets in 65 T20Is.
