Brisbane: Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect. Ashwin revealed his decision at the end of the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane, which ended in a draw due to rain.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level. I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to expose and probably showcase that in club level cricket, but this will be the last day. I’ve had a lot of fun.
“I must say I’ve created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates, even though I’ve lost some of them over the last few years. We are the last bunch of OGs, if you can say that, left out of the dressing room. I’d be marking this as my date of having played at this level,” said Ashwin in the post-match press conference.
Ashwin ends his career with 537 wickets at average of 24 in 106 Tests and becoming India’s second leading wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble. He also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties with the bat. His last international game was the day-night Test in Adelaide, where he took 1-53.
His retirement announcement looked imminent once TV visuals showed an emotional Ashwin being given a hug by Virat Kohli on the balcony of the dressing room during the rain delay. Ashwin also played 116 ODIs for India, taking 156 wickets, and being a member of 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy winning teams.
Ashwin also played 65 T20I matches and took 72 wickets. “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’ve been a part of the journey, most importantly, Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, who’ve taken those spending catches around the back 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’ve been very fierce competitors. I’ve enjoyed my time playing against them,” added Ashwin.
In Tests, Ashwin was one of the big figures in the Indian team’s 12-year long home domination and played a starring role in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in Australia. Ashwin was one of 11 allrounders to clinch the double of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, level with Muthiah Muralitharan.
“I think it’s already getting long. I wouldn’t be taking any questions, but it’s truly a very emotional moment. I don’t think I’m in a position where I would be answering the questions in the right way, so please pardon me for that. Once again, that’s my time.
“Thanks for being the journalist that you’ve been, writing good things and, of course, writing nasty things on occasions. That’s a relationship I think we would maintain forever. I hope the cricketers to come in the future will also get the same amount of love that you’ve given them.
“Once again, thank you all. See you all soon. As a cricketer, I’ve just stopped it. I might go on to be involved with the game because this is a game that’s given me everything. Thank you,” concluded Ashwin. IANS
The Numbers Story: Unpacking the greatness of Ashwin
n One of the greatest ever
537 wickets by Ashwin made him finish as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket among all teams. Among Indian bowlers, he ends second only to Anil Kumble's 619 wickets in Tests while his 765 wickets across formats is again bettered only by Kumble's 953. Ashwin is the fastest to 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450 and 500 wicket milestones for India in terms of matches played.
n 37 five-wicket hauls by Ashwin in 106 Tests is the joint second most in Test cricket along with Shane Warne who took as many in 145 matches. The list is headed by Muttiah Muralitharan with 67 five-fers in 133 Tests. On average, Ashwin has taken a five-fer every 2.8 Tests which happens to be the best among Indian players.
n 50.7 Ashwin's strike rate of 50.7 balls per wicket puts him in the top ten among the 84 bowlers to have picked up at least 200 Test wickets. He is the only spinner in the top 25 in the list with Stuart MacGill coming next at a distant 29th spot.
n 268 Left-handers dismissed by Ashwin in Tests - the most by any bowler. Among the 76 bowlers to have dismissed at least 50 southpaws in the format, only Curtly Ambrose (18.59) has done it at a better average than Ashwin's 19.84 (where ball-by-ball details are available).
Each of Ashwin's five most frequent victims are left-handers - Ben Stokes (13 dismissals), David Warner (11), Alastair Cook (9), James Anderson (9), and Tom Lathan (9).
n Ashwin’s peak
Ashwin stared off his career with a bang picking 22 wickets in his debut series against West Indies in 2011/12 and continued that dominance at home for much of the initial years averaging 24.12 at home and 56.58 away in 24 Tests across good part of four years up until the tour to Australia in 2014/15.
He made technical adjustments to his action - a hallmark of his entire career where he thrived on excellence, step by step. He became a better version of himself every passing game and in the next six years or so - which forms the biggest chunk of his career - the stats bear out that he accomplished it with flying colours. Between 2015 to 2021 season, he averaged 20.88 in Asia, 27.00 in England, 27.50 in Australia and 23.17 in West Indies. The only countries where his average went north of 30 was in South Africa (30.71 in two Tests) and New Zealand (33.00 in one Test).
Ashwin's peak at home came in the long 2016/17 season where he bagged 82 wickets in 13 Tests across four series - the most by a bowler in a single season in Test cricket history. He sent down a marathon 4430 deliveries across these 13 Tests of which India had a 10-1 win-loss record.
This was followed by an impressive run away from home the following year. Between the start of 2017/18 season in the southern hemisphere up until the end of 2021 English season - a period that is marked for the renaissance of fast bowling - Ashwin stood out among spinners. In 12 Tests across SENA countries in this period, Ashwin bagged 43 wickets, only behind Nathan Lyon's 118 and more than the likes of home spinners like Keshav Maharaj, Moeen Ali and Dom Bess. Among the ten spinners with 15 or more scalps, Ashwin topped the table for average (8.23), strike rate (68.5) and economy rate (2.47).
n Champion at home
65 Tests played by India at home since Ashwin's debut in 2011/12 - he featured in each of those 65. Only one player featured in more home Tests in career without missing one - Cook who played in each of the 83 Tests for England at home between 2006 and 2018.
383 of Ashwin's 537 Test wickets came at home - the fourth most for a bowler behind Muralitharan (493), James Anderson (438), and Stuart Board (398). Of the 34 spinners to have picked 100+ wickets at home, Ashwin is the only bowler to achieve it at a sub-50 strike rate (46.0).
2 Home series where Ashwin's average ticked over 31 - 52.64 against England in four Tests in 2012/13 and 41.22 against New Zealand earlier this year. These are the only two rubbers India have lost at home during his 14-year-long career. India won 18 successive home rubbers between these two defeats (including one off Tests) underlining how crucial Ashwin's contributions have been to India's golden run at home.
n 587 Wickets taken by Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the 58 Tests they featured together - the most by a spin duo and the sixth most overall (each bowler with 100+ wickets). 49 of these 58 Tests have come at home of which India won a whopping 35 (win% 71.42) and lost just six, three of those coming in their last three Tests together.
n All round abilities
3- Ashwin ends his career with 3503 runs and 537 wickets making only the third player with the double of 3000+ runs and 500+ wickets after Shane Warne and Stuart Broad. He averaged 25.75 with the bat and 24.00 with the ball giving him a net positive average differential of 1.75.
4- Instances of Ashwin scoring a century and bagging a five-wicket haul in the same Test - only behind Ian Botham's five such doubles. Ashwin became the first player to achieve the feat at the same venue twice - his home ground in Chennai in this instance, against England in 2021 and against Bangladesh in 2024.
11- Player of the Series awards for Ashwin, the joint most in Tests alongside Muralitharan. Ashwin featured in two or more Tests in 32 of these 41 giving him a rate of 2.9 series per award compared to Murali who appeared in 61 rubbers of which he featured in 2+ Tests in 51.
25- Instances of Ashwin bagging 25+ wickets in a series - the most by a bowler. The second in the list is six each by Warner and Muralitharan while the next best for India is four by Kapil Dev.
Most wickets in Tests:
Player Mat Wkts Avg ER SR 5-fers 10-fers
M Muralitharan 133 800 22.72 2.47 55.0 67 22
S Warne 145 708 25.41 2.65 57.4 37 10
J Anderson 188 704 26.45 2.79 56.8 32 3
A Kumble 132 619 29.65 2.69 65.9 35 8
S Broad 167 604 27.68 2.97 55.7 20 3
G McGrath 124 563 21.64 2.49 51.9 29 3
R Ashwin 106 537 24.00 2.83 50.7 37 8
N Lyon 132 533 30.45 2.93 62.2 24 5
C Walsh 132 519 24.44 2.53 57.8 22 3
Best SR among spinners (200+ wickets):
Player SR Mat Balls Wkts Avg
R Ashwin 50.7 106 27246 537 24.00
S MacGill 54.0 44 11237 208 29.02
M Muralitharan 55.0 133 44039 800 22.72
R Jadeja 57.1 78 18233 319 24.05
S Warne 57.4 145 40705 708 25.41
Career progression:
Period Tests (H) Wkts (H) Avg (H) Tests (A) Wkts (A) Avg (A)
Debut - Jan 2015 15 95 24.13 9 24 56.58
July 2015 - July 2021 32 191 20.79 23 103 24.51
Since Oct 2021 18 97 20.62 9 27 27.67
Key wicket milestones:
1. 50 wickets -- 9 Tests
2. 100 wickets -- 18 Tests
3. 150 wickets -- 29 Tests
4. 200 wickets -- 37 Tests
5. 250 wickets -- 45 Tests
6. 300 wickets -- 54 Tests
7. 350 wickets -- 66 Tests
8. 400 wickets -- 77 Tests
9. 450 wickets -- 89 Tests
10. 500 wickets -- 98 Tests
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