Ravichandran Ashwin has been the driving force behind the Indian cricket team’s success in Test cricket during the last decade or so. The heights reached by the Indian Test team under Kohli’s captaincy. He would not have been feasible without Ashwin’s consistent mastery of the ball. And so, when the man with the second-greatest number of wickets for India in Test Matches. He has 509 wickets to his record.
The story behind Ravichandran Ashwin’s international retirement develops as the Indian all-rounder returns home from Australia on Thursday. Ashwin hastily flew out of Australia after shocking the cricket world with his retirement announcement. He was greeted warmly at Chennai airport. Even Ashwin’s father and mother, who greeted him with tears in their eyes upon his return to Chennai, said that the news shocked them, as much as it did millions of his followers.
The Tamil-Nadu spinner took 765 wickets in 287 international matches. Including 37 five-wicket hauls and eight ten-fers. He has been at the peak of his game, particularly in Test cricket, for about a decade. He finishes his career as the country’s second-highest wicket-taker, both in Tests and in international cricket. Ashwin’s father believes he would have continued playing but was ‘humiliated’. He only featured in the pink-ball Test for India against Australia.
Indian Cricket’s Dark Side
Ravichandran Ashwin, along with Ian Botham, is the only player to have taken five wickets and scored a century in the same innings of a test match. This demonstrates Ashwin’s abilities not only as a bowler but also as a crucial all-rounder. The Indian icon also holds the record for the most Player of the Series accolades in Test matches, demonstrating his brilliance.
Ashwin’s father told News 18, “I too came to know last minute, actually. What was going on in his mind I don’t know. He just announced. I too accepted it with full pleasure. I did not have any feelings at all for that. But the way he gave his retirement, one part I was very happy, another part not happy because he should have continued.”
