Ravichandran Ashwin Reveals Reason For Announcing His Retirement In Middle Of Test Series Against Australia
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Ashwin announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on December 18, 2024.
Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on December 18, 2024. (Picture Credit: AP)
Ravichandran Ashwin announced his decision to retire from all forms of international cricket on December 18. The 38-year-old cricketer from Chennai, after missing out on a place in India’s playing XI for the third Test of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane, attended a press conference post the conclusion of the fifth and final day’s play and revealed his decision. Ashwin’s sudden decision to quit international cricket came as a shock for fans, but now the legendary spinner has revealed the reason behind his decision.
According to Ashwin, he initially wanted to quit after playing his 100th Test for India against England in March 2024 in Dharamsala but delayed the decision to play in the home season. He then wanted to retire from international cricket after the conclusion of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh in September 2024, where he scored a century in the first innings and picked up a six-wicket haul in the second.
Speaking on the Chennai Super Kings’ podcast show Mike Testing 123 with former Australian and CSK batsman Mike Hussey, Ashwin spoke about his decision to retire and said, “To be very honest, I wanted to do it after my 100th Test. And then I thought, Ok, let me give it a go in the home season. Because, I mean, you’re playing well and you’re getting wickets, you’re making runs. So I thought it does make sense to play a bit. I was having a lot of fun, but the whole hard yards that I had to put through to put myself on the park again, physically and mentally, one of the most important things for me that was pulling me down was the family time,” Ashwin said.
“I thought I’d probably close off (with) the Chennai Test. I ended up getting a six-wicket haul and a hundred. So it’s very tough to quit when you’re doing very well. So, I went on with the series, and we lost against New Zealand. So one after the other, it was just building up. And then I thought, Okay, let me go to Australia. Let me see how this goes. Because the last time I was in Australia, I had a great, great tour. And when I didn’t start in Perth, it was like, Okay, this whole circle keeps going again. People add very little value to what you’re going through emotionally. They don’t really consider that because your emotions are yours, and it doesn’t matter to anybody else. So I had been contemplating that, and then I thought, Okay, maybe it is time,” he added.