He had made up his mind to retire after India’s win against Australia in Perth. However, Ravichandran Ashwin did not do so due to the persuasion of skipper Rohit Sharma. The latter had told the spinner that he may be needed for the pink ball Test in Adelaide. So Ashwin just postponed his decision for a brief while. But the ‘thinking’ cricketer that he is, Ashwin realised that the time has come for him to bid adieu to national aspirations. Ashwin also understood that India’s next home series is quite far off… sometime after India’s tour of England when he will be close to 40. Understanding that he is not indispensable any more for any of India’s away series, Ashwin, who is now 39, decided to bid adieu.
And he did so gracefully. Probably he could have stayed on for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests where pitches tend to help spinners, but then there was also this realisation that the Indian team management now prefers batting all-rounders than those that bowl well and can bat a bit. This prompted him to hang up his boots.
But then how does one define Ashwin. The legendary cricket writer Sir Neville Cardus had once said ‘scoreboard is a donkey’. So it would be wrong to judge Ashwin by statistics alone. Yes, stats are a part of the iconic status which Ashwin have achieved. But then there is this ‘thinking’ aspect which really makes Ashwin stand out.
Here was a cricketer who was constantly innovating and changing. As a bowler, Ashwin was constantly adding to his armoury. He developed the ‘away floater’ which EAS Prasanna bowled so successfully, then came the ‘doosra’ and finally Ashwin added the carom ball to his repertoire. He used the crease well and at times bowled from two steps behind the umpire to puzzle the batters. He even bowled genuine leg-breaks and once even used the bouncer against a stubborn Australian batter. But what made him stand out was his ability to come out with new tricks in the constantly innovating world cricket. It helped his hold on to his place for 16 years… no easy feat.
Look at his batting exploits too. Ashwin has six Test centuries under his belt, and in fact is among the 11 cricketers to have achieved the distinction of scoring 3,000-plus runs and picking up 300 wickets in Tests. The two other Indians two have achieved the feat are Kapil Dev and Ravindra Jadeja. He is the 76th cricketer to have played in more than 100 Tests, 13th among Indians and the first from Tamil Nadu. But the man that he is, these are just figures to Ashwin. A few months back, Ashwin had said in an interview that he enjoys Test cricket as it ‘gives him a high’. He couldn’t have been closer to the truth.
Ashwin’s departure from the Indian team was as un-dramatic as his bowling. He would quietly eat up a batter, slowly snaring him into a trap before the victim surrendered. His departure was equally dramatically un-dramatic. Dramatic because the announcement was sudden, un-dramatic simply because of the matter-of-fact way that he announced his retirement.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin said with Rohit by his side. “I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to express that and probably showcase that in club-level cricket, but this will be the last day (for India). He also said he would return to India immediately.
“I’ve had a lot of fun. I must say I have created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates, even though I have lost some of them from the India team over the last few years. We’re the last bunch of OGs, if we can say that, left out in the dressing room, and I will be marking this as my date of having played at this level,” Ashwin stated.
“Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and fellow teammates. Several of them. I want to name a few of them. All the coaches who have been part of the journey. Most importantly, Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane) and (Cheteshwar) Pujara, who have taken those splendid catches around the bat to give me the number of wickets I’ve managed to get over the years. But sorry, I won’t be taking any questions. I am not in an emotional state of mind to answer any questions,” he signed off.
