It is understood that 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.
India played Washington Sundar ahead of Ashwin in Perth before the veteran returned for the pink ball Test, at Rohit’s insistence.
“Even though I am not exhibiting it, it’s a truly emotional moment,” Ashwin began his speech in the dressing room,” said Ashwin.
Ashwin, the Match winner ????
Ashwin, the Centurion ????
Ashwin, the Magician with the ball ????
Ashwin, the Team man ????International cricket will miss them all ❤️#TeamIndia | #ThankYouAshwin | @ashwinravi99 pic.twitter.com/ThvJ7pwRNT
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 18, 2024
“It feels like just now I toured Australia for the first time. I saw everybody transition. Rahul paaji left, Sachin paaji left. But, trust me guys, everybody’s time comes and it’s truly my time. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have built some great relationships, especially over the last 4-5 years. I am leaving behind some of my teammates who have been playing with dearly.”
“Every passing moment in the last four years, I have realised how much I value their relationship and value them as a player. I have had a great time,” he added.
Watch the video here:
A Legend Bids Adieu to International Cricket ????????
Hear what R Ashwin’s parting words were to the Indian dressing room ????????#TeamIndia | @ashwinravi99 https://t.co/6wtwdDOmzX
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 18, 2024
If one has to analyse Ashwin the cricketer, it is very difficult to ignore Ashwin, the person, who had a very independent mind and a brain that probably ticked 24×7. He believed in de-construction of his art and became craftier one ball at a time.
He never believed that an off-spinner can only bowl doosra (the wrong ‘un) with a legal action. But he developed his own wrong ‘un, patented it as “carrom ball”, which could be bowled with a flick of middle finger and thumb and beats the outside edge of a right hander.
The ball became Ashwin’s calling card throughout his career but he had the guts to tell the world that he had learnt it by first watching Sri Lankan Ajantha Mendis during a junior camp in Chennai.
From 2011 till the series against England, he was lethal at home.
Critics can talk endlessly about the nature of Indian strips during the past 13 years but no one can deny Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were a force of nature in those conditions.
One can be provided with advantageous conditions but the player also needs to know how to capitalise. The 383 wickets on Indian soil and 433 out of his 537 Test scalps in Asia is a testimony to his mastery of these conditions.
He has had some great spells in England and Australia but at times statistics conceal more than they reveal. No one can gauge how much pain he endured due to a lower abdominal injury during the 2018 Southampton Test against England which India lost.
Ashwin’s biggest overseas Test achievement would certainly be batting for more than 40 overs with an equally hamstrung Hanuma Vihari as the two saved a Test match in Sydney in 2021. If ‘Gabba’ was India’s Sholay, Sydney certainly was ‘Ankur’.
That day, Ashwin played through the pain to save a game that felt like a victory.
He always had a plan B, be it buying a cricket team in the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association league or a squad in the Global Chess League.
His Tamil YouTube channel with ‘Kutty Stories’ and interviews has a huge Pan India following. His refreshing takes on cricket’s myriad issues, players and laws are a huge hit with the fans.
“I had realised that I don’t need an intermediary (media) to connect with people who might have a created perception about me,” he had said once.
Ravichandran Ashwin, the cricketer will always be one of a kind. A sequel to ‘I Have The Streets’ would be as fascinating.
(With PTI inputs)
