When Ravichandran Ashwin retired, it came as a shock for the entire nation. In the middle of the India vs Australia series, Ashwin announced his retirement in December 2024 after the third Test in Brisbane. Ashwin had played the second match of the five-Test series in Adelaide but was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja for the game in Brisbane. He retired as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 537 scalps in 106 matches – behind only Anil Kumble (619 wickets).
At the time, many wondered whether Ashwin had made the right call, as he still had a chance to surpass Kumble’s tally had he continued playing. Ashwin, now six months short of 40, opened up on his retirement like never before on Tuesday.
“One of my strongest assets, I feel, is my ability to make decisions. Whether it’s right or wrong is for people to debate. But at the end of the day, it’s my life. I need to do it on my terms. The moment, I think, at Perth, when we had Jaddu and myself as the lead spinners in the side, and Washy played that game in Perth, and then the next game, again, I came in, and then I had to again make way, was kind of suggestive or indicative to me that my time was up. And if somebody else had to come and take up that place, by all means, they need their space and time. And I’m not one of those guys who will hang around, you know, wanting to see if I can make a comeback. I’ve had far too many. I’ve come far, far too much in my life to be able to, you know, dilly-dally around with all those things,” Ashwin said during the RevSportz Conclave.
He was also asked: “How do you rate Gautam Gambhir?” The legendary spinner was also questioned on the rumours of Gambhir doing ‘favouritism’. Ashwin was honest enough to admit that Gambhir is well within his right to work with a certain plan for the betterment of the side.
“If somebody has to have angst against Gautam, it’s me, right? I come out on his second or third tour as coach…” a witty Ashwin replied. He went on to elaborate on Gambhir being right in his opinion as a coach, even if that means a Ashwin or a Virat Kohli or a Rohit Sharma must move on.
“My dad is huge well wisher. He might have some angst on the outside. When I came back from Australia, he said something in the media. I have consistently told him that ‘do not speak ill of a player when I am in the house’. We have fought over these things. Gautam, the coach, has a job to do for me in many ways, and even if he thought that I must move on or Virat must move on or Rohit must move on, it’s okay; it’s fine because he has a job to do. And at that particular instance, if I felt bitter about it, that’s also okay because it’s my emotion. But if you detach yourself from that, it’s clear to me that he has a job to do, and maybe I do not have a future in his regime,” Ashwin added.
“But I have always wanted to shed ego as the first thing in my life, and I’m still in the process of shedding ego. We all are human beings. It comes to us. But if you detach yourself, things do make sense. Sometimes, because of the adulation we get in this country, we do end up thinking that we are invincible, which is not the case.”