 "R Ashwin opens up on his sudden retirement: 'Always wanted to leave things behind as nonchalantly as I can'")
Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on his shock retirement midway during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy during a chat with former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, saying his “creative side” did not have much of a future or direction when it came to international cricket.
The senior off-spinner took the Indian cricket community by surprise by announcing his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, right after the third between Australia and India at The Gabba in Brisbane ended in a draw, having made his final appearance for the nation in the previous match – in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.
Also Read | Everything R Ashwin said at final press conference as India cricketer
“One line I have always said when people ask me ‘what is next?’ I have said the day I wake up and feel that creative side doesn’t have a future or direction is when I would probably give it up.
“I certainly think that creative side did not have a lot of upside to explore. There are laboratories available in world cricket today. So I thought okay if this is not the lab, I can find another one,” Ashwin told Atherton and Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
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Ashwin, who signs off as India’s second-highest Test wicket-taker after fellow spin legend Anil Kumble (619) with 537 wickets in 106 Tests, added that he wasn’t the kind of person “to hold on to things”, and neither did he care much about receiving a grand farewell and the attention that comes with it.
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More Shorts“There is always that question lies inside you. You keep asking yourself, am I really making this decision the right way? In my case it was slightly different. I don’t know how to position this. But I have never been the kind to hold on to things. I have never felt insecure in life.
“I don’t believe what I have today is probably going to be mine tomorrow. Probably that has been one of my elevating factors. I always wanted to leave things behind as nonchalantly as I can because I do not believe in people celebrating me, I don’t believe in the kind of attention we get sometimes in India. It is always the game that is always stood ahead of me,” said Ashwin.
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Ashwin added that while the pressure of being an Indian cricketer is finally off his back 14 years after making his international debut, he looks forward to making meaningful contributions in other forms of the game, including in the Indian Premier League (IPL) where he is set to return to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) after a decade.
“The cricketer in me is yet to be done. I do visualise myself doing a lot more in the next few years, that tag of being an Indian cricketer can be overwhelming. Now that is off my back, I do have an avenue to explore much more as long as my body is allowing me to do so,” ‘Ash’ said.
Also Read | Sunil Gavaskar unhappy with timing of Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement
As for the prospect of his contemporary Nathan Lyon, who is also an off-spinner, trailing him by just four wickets in the all-time wicket-takers list, Ashwin said he wasn’t much of a numbers man and is happy with whatever he has achieved till date. Ashwin currently is the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, but is expected to be overtaken by Lyon, who sits at the eighth spot with 533 wickets.
“I won’t be seventh on the list for a long time. Nathan Lyon is breathing down my neck. Glad to be number 8, glad to be whatever number I happen to become eventually.
“One tag that have always come behind me, that people have tended to say that I am a numbers man, I know my numbers, probably gave the impression that I went after number, that was never the case.
“It was all about getting excited to be something else the very next day that I played the game. The game gave me so much to a point where it allowed me to be creative and explore the best inside me. So grateful to the game for giving me all those avenues,” Ashwin added.
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