Indian pacer Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, bringing an end to a career in which he took 765 wickets for his country across formats.
Ashwin, 38, made the announcement after India’s draw with Australia in the Brisbane Test, a match for which he was not selected.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at international level,” he said.
Ravichandran Ashwin India bowling statistics
- Tests: 537 wickets at an average of 24.00 (106 matches)
- ODIs: 156 wickets at an average of 33.20 (116 matches)
- T20: 72 wickets at an average of 23.22 (65 matches)
“I feel there is a bit of strength in me as a cricketer, but I would like to express that, show that in cricket at club level.”
Ashwin is India’s second highest Test wicket-taker, with 537 scalps behind only Anil Kumble (619), while he has taken 156 one-day international wickets and 72 in T20 internationals.
The Chennai-born player has also notched 3,503 Test runs, with six hundred and 14 half-centuries.
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
“I had a lot of fun,” added Ashwin, who is the seventh highest-paid player in men’s Test cricket.
“I have created a lot of memories alongside Rohit (Sharma) and many of my teammates, even though we have lost some of them (to retirement) over the past few years.
“We’re the last group of OGs, we can say that. I’ll mark this as the date I played at this level.
Top wicket takers in men’s test cricket
- Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) – 800
- Shane Warne (Australia) – 708
- James Anderson (England) – 704
- Anil Kumble (India) – 619
- Stuart Broad (England) – 604
- Glenn McGrath (Australia) – 563
- Ravichandran Ashwin (India) – 537
- Nathan Lyon (Australia) – 533
- Courtney Walsh (West Indies) – 519
- Dale Steyn (South Africa) – 439
“There are obviously a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I did not thank the BCCI and my teammates.
“Most importantly, Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, who took some catches around the bat and gave me the number of wickets I have been able to get over the years.”
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
Ashwin could be usurped by Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon in the Test wickets list by the end of the ongoing series, with the latter on 533 wickets in his career, four behind Ashwin’s total.
Lyon is likely to add to this number in the last two matches in Melbourne (from December 26) and then in Sydney (from January 3).
Tributes are pouring in on Ashwin’s retirement
Ashwin’s current and former teammates, including Virat Kohli, paid tribute to the spinner on social media.
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
Rohit: I knew Ashwin was planning to retire
India captain Rohit Sharma said he heard Ashwin was planning to retire but convinced him to prolong his career in order to play in the second pink-ball Test against Australia in Adelaide – a match in which the spinner took a wicket and scored 29 as the tourists suffered a 10-wicket defeat.
Ashwin was omitted from the series opener as India bowled out their hosts by 295 runs.
“I somehow convinced him to stay for (the Adelaide Test),” Rohit said of his teammate.
“It so happened that if he felt that he was not needed now in the series, it was better to say goodbye to the game.
twitter
This content is provided by twitterwhich may use cookies and other technologies. In order to show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to adjust your preferences to enable it twitter Cookies or allow these cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time via Privacy options.
Unfortunately, we were unable to verify whether you agreed to this twitter Cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow twitter Cookies for this session only.
“Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has a choice, he should be given that choice.
“He was very sure of what he wanted to do and the team had full support for his thought process.
“It’s important that a player like him, who has had so many moments with the Indian team and was really a big match-winner for us, is allowed to make those decisions on his own.
“If that’s the case now, so be it.”
