Ravichandran Ashwin‘s sudden retirement from international cricket came as a shock to many, but not former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, who suggested that the announcement was always on the cards due to the lack of opportunities. Ashwin brought the curtains down on his illustrious career that stretched for more than 14 years. Gavaskar was of the opinion that Ashwin’s exclusion from the team for the Tests against Australia in Perth and Gabba played a key role in making the retirement midway through the series.
“It was coming, for sure. Because, look, India is not playing anything now until next year. There is just the five-Test match series in England. And clearly, I think what has happened is that Ashwin, who’s been a wonderful player for India, saw that he was not being considered in the playing 11 when India played overseas. It’s been an aspect that has been there for the last several tours: when you go to South Africa, you go to Australia, you go to England. He doesn’t get selected in the 11. So I think at that, recognising that the England tour was going to be the next five test series and perhaps thinking that he might not get picked, he decided to call it a day. So in, in a sense it was coming,” Gavaskar told India Today.
The 38-year-old finished with 537 wickets in 106 Tests, India’s second highest wicket-taker in the format after legendary spinner Anil Kumble (619).
On being asked if Ashwin could’ve broken Kumble’s record, Gavaskar admitted: “He could have gone on to do that (surpass Kumble) for sure. But did he want to do that? That’s the thing. Did he want to be under that? You know, look, you might take, you know, you might score hundreds of hundreds. You might; you might take, you know, plenty of five, five-wicket hauls or 10-wicket hauls in Test matches. But that drive, do you have that drive. Rohit Sharma said that he had to persuade him to play the Adelaide Test, which means that even for the Adelaide Test, the previous Test, Ashwin wasn’t really in the mental sort of frame, maybe, to play that test match.
“That’s, I think, what would have been, that certainly would have been the consideration that he was not going to be the number one pick. And look, anybody who’s got 500 plus wickets, 530, 540 wickets like he has, there is pride in your own performance. There is a feeling that you know you are somebody who has delivered in the past, and therefore, when you are not selected, it hurts you. It hurts you,” he added.
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