India’s veteran spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin’s unexpected retirement from international cricket has shocked the entire cricketing fraternity because it has come in the middle of a huge series. The Chennai-born Ashwin decided to hang up his shoes after the end of the third of the five-match Test series of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Gabba, Brisbane.
Ravichandran Ashwin brought the curtains down on his 14-year career and flew back home on the same evening before arriving home on the morning of December 19. The blue brigade, as some of the reports have suggested, is going through a transition phase, and some more of the players are expected to announce if they fail to qualify for the World Test Championship 2023-25 final.
The Tamil Nadu spinner ended as the second leading wicket-taker for the national side in Tests with 533 scalps in 104 games at an average of 24, besides ending at the same spot in terms of most international wickets for the Indian side with 765 in 379 innings.
Basit Ali punishes Indian captain and coach for failing to delay Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement
Speaking on the development, the former middle-order batter for Pakistan, Basit Ali, expressed that if Virat Kohli were the captain of the team at this moment, he would have convinced Ravichandran Ashwin to delay his announcement till the end of the BGT series.
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The current Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, after the declaration by the spinner of his retirement at the press conference, informed that the announcement was going to be made in the opening Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth, but the Nagpur-born pushed him to be part of the day-night Adelaide Test match.
“I guarantee if Virat Kohli was captain, he wouldn’t have let Ashwin retire and would have told him to announce it after two matches. Why? Because India will need him in Sydney. If Rahul Dravid or Ravi Shastri was the Indian coach, they also would not let Ravichandran Ashwin retire at this moment.” The former Pakistan batter claimed in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
Under the leadership of Kohli in Tests, the TN spinner has enjoyed the biggest chunk of his career in terms of wickets. During the year 2016, the latter was also named the ‘ICC cricketer of the year.’
“It’s bad that Rohit and Gambhir could not convince him and say ‘not at this time, these two Test matches you are needed’, and for sure in Sydney.” The 53-year-old added.
The veteran Basit Ali has also been stunned and found some mystery in the sudden retirement of Ravichandran Ashwin, especially in the middle of such a high-voltage series, and his body language said a lot.
“There are some things you can’t speak but are still understood. Body language tells everything; the way he hugged Virat Kohli. I agree he is not the same bowler, but not that bad that you put him under so much pressure. Those 537 wickets are a lot.” Ali highlighted.
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The start of the veteran in international cricket happened with the white ball, and it ended with the pink ball, and in between that, the red ball was dominant. He was also part of 116 ODIs to take 156 wickets and 65 T20Is to pick 72 scalps, respectively.
“Ravichandran Ashwin was not a math winner, he was the series winner. Red-ball cricket is the highest level. Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Ashwin, all of them are series winners.” Basit concluded.
India’s first home Test series without the veteran in the squad will be in October 2025 against West Indies.