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Ashwin has not chat with the selectors but the decision to bid adieu was on cards after New Zealand series which India lost 0-3.
Rohit Sharma with R Ashwin (Image: Sportpics)
Ravichandran Ashwin’s decision to retire from international cricket surprised many. A veteran of 106 Test matches, decided to move away quietly after he was benched for the third Australia Test in Brisbane, which ended in a draw. He came to the post-match presentation with captain Rohit Sharma, made the announcement and left the arena.
As reported by PTI, the retirement was on his mind after the home series against New Zealand, which India shockingly lost 0-3. He had made it clear to the team management that if he was not guaranteed a place in the playing eleven during the Australia series, he would not even travel Down Under.
But India played Washington Sundar in the series opener in Perth before the veteran returned to play the pink-ball Test in Adelaide, on Rohit’s insistence. Comes the third Test, Ravindra Jadeja gets the nod and the rest is history.
Ravindra Jadeja played in the Brisbane Test and as Rohit stated after the drawn third Test in Gabba, nobody knew how the squad would shape up for the remaining two games in Melbourne and Sydney.
Rohit wasn’t present in Perth when the playing eleven was finalised. Probably, it was coach Gautam Gambhir who had a say on who would be India’s go-to off-spinner going forward and the name wasn’t Ashwin. Once the skipper linked up with the team, he had to convince Ashwin to play in Adelaide.
“When I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had and I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink ball Test match and then after that, it just happened…He felt that if I am not needed right now in the series, I am better off saying goodbye to the game,” Rohit revealed.
“It’s important when a player like him who has had so many moments with the Indian team and he has been a truly big match-winner for us, he is allowed to make those decisions on his own and if it was now, so be it,” he added.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh felt the Chennai man could have delayed this announcement until after the series.
“Numbers can’t lie and he has such a phenomenal record. I would have ideally liked him to stay back for the final two Tests as in Sydney, he could have played a part. But it’s an individual call,” Harbhajan told PTI.
“When the name is as big as Ashwin, it is the player, who decides. Maybe he didn’t want to hang around,” he added.
(With Agency Inputs)
