“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level,” Ashwin said after the Brisbane Test at a press conference. “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].
“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 the fellow team-mates. 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], [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.
“Also a big thank you to the Australian cricket team, who have been very fierce competitors. I have enjoyed my time playing against them.”
Saying that he wouldn’t be taking any questions from the media and was there just to make the news public, Ashwin said, “Truly a very emotional moment. I don’t think I am in a position where I would be answering the questions in the right way. Please pardon me for that. Thanks for being the journalists you’ve been, writing good things and of course writing nasty things on occasions. That’s a relationship I think we would maintain forever, and I hope the cricketers to come in the future will also get the same amount of love.”
And finally, he confirmed that he would be staying connected to the game, and possibly not just as a cricketer in the IPL (he is part of Chennai Super Kings now) or in the TNPL (Dindigul Dragons). “See you soon. As a cricketer, I have just stopped it. Might go on to be involved with the game, because this is a game that has given me everything.”
He was bought by CSK, his first IPL team, for INR 9.75 crore at the mega auction last month, and will be playing for them in IPL 2025.
Rohit, sitting alongside Ashwin as the latter made his announcement for the press, said, “Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has [made] a choice, he has to be given that choice, and somebody like Ashwin who has been there for us for so many years is allowed to make those kind of decisions on his own and we as team-mates have to respect it. He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team has complete backing of his thought process.
“Obviously, there’s a bit of gap [between Tests] now so for us, as a team, to regroup and collect our thoughts on this is very, very crucial right now. We’ve got some time to think about how we need to proceed further. But speaking about Ash, he was very very sure about his decision.
“I heard [about the plan to retire] when I came to Perth. Obviously I was not there for the first three or four days of the first Test match, but this was in his mind since then and there are obviously a lot of things that went behind it. I’m pretty sure Ash will be in a position to answer that but he understands what the team is thinking, he understands what kind of combinations we are thinking, and when we came here as well, we were not sure about which spinner is going to play. We just wanted to assess and see what kind of conditions we get in front of us.
“But when I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had and I somehow convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test match and then, it just happened so that if he felt that if I’m not needed right now in the series, I’m better off saying goodbye to the game.
“But obviously we’ve not been to Melbourne yet so we don’t know what sort of conditions we expect there and what sort of combination. But just keeping Ash particularly in mind, giving him that respect that if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way. And we should all stand by what he is thinking at this point in time.
“That is what I’m thinking right now and that is the kind of chat we’ve had as well – me and Gautam Gambhir as well. It’s important when a player like him who has had so many moments with the Indian team and he’s been a truly a big match-winner for us is allowed to make those decisions on his own and if it was now, so be it.”
Ashwin ends his Test career as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format, with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests, only behind Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets from 132 Tests.
He played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night fixture in Adelaide. In the previous series, the 3-0 defeat at home to New Zealand, Ashwin had picked up only nine wickets at an average of 41.22.
With him not being a regular in the XI in India’s overseas fixtures, and their next Test series an away tour of England, Ashwin will be 39 by the time India’s next home season comes around.
