Ravichandran Ashwin bid adieu to international cricket after the end of the third Test against Australia at Gabba, Brisbane. The 38-year-old off-spinner called time on his prolific career, finishing India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests. Ashwin’s announcement came out of the blue and shocked several fans and cricket pundits.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has now paid a special tribute to Ashwin, saying his quality to keep evolving made him truly special. Throughout his career, Ashwin has been known as a cricket geek. The off-spinner eventually took 765 wickets across all formats of the game.
“I think what stands out for me was his wanting to evolve all the time. He wasn’t the kind of guy satisfied as to where he started,” Shastri told ICC Review.
“He wanted new tricks to be learned. He pursued it, practiced hard at it and continued to look for new things as his career progressed, to keep up with the times,” he added.
Ashwin’s international wickets are only second to Anil Kumble’s (953) among Indian bowlers. Shastri hailed Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling partnership, calling them the spin twins.
“And for him to do it in his span and the way he has done it, especially when it came to bowling in the last four or five years, I think in India, along with (Ravindra) Jadeja, I think they were a terrific pair, the real spin twins,” Shastri said.
How Jadeja and Ashwin supported each other
Former India head coach Shastri, who oversaw India’s two series wins in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21, also spoke about how Ashwin’s pairing with Jadeja helped the duo in their quest for wickets.
“They complemented each other well, and they spurred each other on, you know, so I would say a lot of Jadeja’s wickets in the last, you know, five-six years have come because of Ashwin and vice-versa,” Shastri said.
In his Test career, Ashwin dismissed 269 right-handed batter wickets and 268 left-handed batter wickets. Shastri said that these stats prove that Ashwin was all quality, irrespective of the opponent and playing style.
“For me, it was his guile, wanting to excel in his craft and (especially) in the last two-three years, the way he got the ball to the way, gave it a rip and got it to dip on the batsman with drift made him stand out,” Shastri said.
“And you look at his record against right-handers, against left-handers, it’s pretty much similar, you know, which says it all. It didn’t matter to him who he was bowling against. You know, he was up for it,” he added.
Ashwin landed in Chennai on Thursday morning, and upon arrival, the seasoned campaigner stated that he would continue playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for many years.
