Kolkata, December 18, 2024 : Indian legendary all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has announced retirement from international Cricket following 3rd Test of Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at Gabba, ending his 13 years long legendary career.
Ashwin has been an integral part of Indian Cricket especially in Test format. He has played 287 matches, scored 4394 runs and took 763 wickets for India across all formats and is 2nd highest wicket taker for Men in Blue after Anil Kumble in Test Cricket.
Ashwin was also vital part of India’s 2 ICC events win – ICC ODI WC 2011, ICC CT 2013. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, level with Muthiah Muralidaran.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin said after the Brisbane Test at a press conference. “I feel there’s a little bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I’d like to express that, showcase that in club-level cricket.
“I’ve had a lot of fun. I have made a lot of memories alongside Rohit [Sharma] and several of my team-mates, even though we’ve lost some of them [to retirements] over the last few years. We’re the last bunch of OGs, we can say that. I will be marking this as my date of having played at this level”.
“Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I will be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and fellow team-mates. I want to name a few of them, some of the coaches [also] who have been part of the journey. Most importantly, Rohit, Virat [Kohli], Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have taken some of the catches around the bat and given me the number of wickets I’ve managed to get over the years”, Ashwin concluded.
Speculations about Ashwin’s future gained steam when, during the rain interval on Day 5, the cameras captured Virat Kohli hugging an emotional Ashwin. Something was definitely brewing – Ashwin was also spotted spending time with his Australian counterpart Nathan Lyon. On a live broadcast, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar pretty much confirmed Ashwin’s retirement, which turned true couple of hours later.
