Ravichandran Ashwin retires from international cricket after the Gabba Test.

Ravichandran Ashwin Announces Retirement Following Iconic Gabba Test

Written by: Supriya Kadu

Edited by: Pinky Deshmukh

Last Updated: 2024-12-18 08:18:18

Summary: Ashwin concluded a remarkable 14-year career, announcing his retirement on Wednesday.

After Wednesday's third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane, India's top spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket.

Ashwin, one of the finest cricketers to have represented India, retires after taking 765 wickets in all formats.

Ashwin revealed the news when speaking with the media in Brisbane on Wednesday, joining India captain Rohit Sharma at the press conference.

On Day 5 of the Gabba Test, India's legendary spin-bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin was spotted sharing an emotional moment with Virat Kohli.

Ashwin and Kohli were spotted talking for a lengthy time during the tea break in the changing room. Ashwin appeared emotional, and Kohli briefly hugged his teammate.

Captain Rohit Sharma selected Ravindra Jadeja as the only spinner and dismissed Ashwin from the third Test. During the tour, the 38-year-old only participated in one Test match. He recorded 22 and 7 in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval. He took one wicket out of 53 runs with the bowling.

He became one of the all-time greats after playing his debut Test match against the West Indies in November 2011. With 537 wickets from 106 Tests at an average of 24, he concludes his Test career. He finished with 10 wickets in a Test match eight times and claimed 37 five-wicket hauls.

Since making his debut in 2010, Ashwin has played in 287 international matches, helping India win the Champions Trophy and the ODI World Cup in 2011 and 2013.

The spinner from Tamil Nadu took 765 wickets in all formats, which was the 11th-highest total and the second-highest total behind Anil Kumble's 956.

Rohit expressed, “We as teammates have to respect it. He was very sure of what he wanted to do. The team has 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.”

He also revealed that retirement had been on his mind since the Perth test, however, he came to know about it when Ashwin joined the squad for the pink-ball warm-up match.

Also, Ashwin will not be traveling with the Indian team for the rest of the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.