Indian spin all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, who amassed over 700 wickets across formats, has announced his retirement from international cricket following the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia in Brisbane. The 38-year-old, who played in the opening Test in Adelaide, concludes a stellar career in red-ball cricket featuring 106 Tests, 537 wickets, 3,503 runs, and six centuries, leaving an indelible mark on Indian cricket.
In his final Test match, Ravichandran Ashwin recorded bowling figures of 1/53 and contributed 22 and 7 runs with the bat. Ashwin made his retirement announcement himself after the Gabba Test at the PC, saying "This will be my last day as India international cricketer. I will play club cricket. I had a lot of fun. There a lot of people to thank, BCCI, teammates, family, Australia team...".
A video making waves on social media shows Ravichandran Ashwin and Virat Kohli sharing a touching hug. Though unverified, it is speculated that the moment captures Ashwin informing Kohli about his decision to retire from international cricket.
Watch viral video...
R Ashwin's retirement message: "I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer," Ashwin began, hinting at his desire to continue playing at the club level. "But this will be the last day, and I 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 lost some of them over the last few years."
"We are the last bunch of OGs, if we can say that, left out in the dressing room. I’d be marking this as my date of having played at this level."