Ravichandran Ashwin‘s decision to retire on Wednesday came as a shock to the cricket world; but it was possibly his exclusion and India’s switch from one spinner to another in the first three Tests of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) that led to the veteran off-spinner making up his mind to call time on his international career.
In the series opener at Perth, it was Washington Sundar who was preferred as India’s spinner of choice, with Ashwin warming the bench. It presumably didn’t go down well with India’s second highest Test wicket-taker.
Things interestingly changed after Rohit Sharma returned from his paternity leave to join the team halfway through the Perth Test and resumed leadership duties in Adelaide.
“I heard this (Ashwin mulling retirement) when I came to Perth. Obviously I was not here for the first three or four days of the Test match, but this was in his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it. I am pretty sure Ash, when in position, will be able to answer that,” Rohit said at the press conference after the drawn third Test in Brisbane.
Ashwin had accompanied Rohit to the press conference but left soon after announcing his retirement from international cricket and did not take any questions from the media. He flew back to India within hours after that, which further fueled speculations around the reasons for his sudden exit.
After knowing Ashwin’s thoughts in Perth, Rohit convinced him to wait.
“When I arrived in Perth, we had a chat and somehow convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test match. It happened so that he felt ‘if I am not needed right now in the series, then I am better off saying goodbye to the game'”, Rohit said.
But an Instagram post by Ashwin’s friend, Aravind Raghavan, said retirement had been on 38-year-old offie’s mind from the past few months.
“Never took you seriously even when you shared this thought a few months back,” read the post by Aravind.
It’s intriguing that after Rohit was handed back captaincy duties by Jasprit Bumrah, who led the team in Perth, for the second Test at Adelaide, Ashwin returned to the playing eleven. But after the man with 537 Test wickets was dropped again for the Brisbane Test, where Ravindra Jadeja played, the storm that was brewing finally arrived at the conclusion of the match on December 18.
What’s also interesting is that Ashwin left before the end of the series, which is poised at 1-1 and the last two Tests of the BGT are scheduled at venues (Melbourne and Sydney) that favour India, especially the final match at the spin-friendly Sydney Cricket Ground.
It’s not beyond doubt that Ashwin’s sudden retirement and the chain of events leading up to it have a mysterious touch, but the jury will remain out until the man himself clears that air, if he decides to do so.
