“Go back home, in front of Indian media” - Former Australia captain surprised with R Ashwin’s retirement after BGT 2024-25 3rd Test
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke has expressed surprise at veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's sudden retirement after the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ashwin missed out on the playing XI in the first and third Tests but was part of the side for the second Test in Adelaide.
However, with the third Test ending in a stalemate, the 38-year-old addressed the press conference alongside skipper Rohit Sharma and announced his retirement from international cricket. Ashwin finished as the seventh leading wicket-taker in Test history with 537 scalps in 106 outings.
Yet, his sudden announcement and departure mid-series has been a topic of debate, and Clarke chimed in on the same on ESPN's 'Around the Wicket' podcast, saying:
"Ravichandran Ashwin has been a fantastic player across all formats, so tough to face, especially in Indian conditions; very skilful, very accurate, very good lines. He deserves to be respected and deserves his congratulations on a wonderful career. I'm surprised he’s done it now, even if he wasn’t gonna play the next two Tests, I thought maybe he could’ve waited, go back home, in front of Indian media… who knows?"
Ashwin is India's second all-time leading wicket-taker with 765 scalps, with his 37 five-wicket hauls in Tests being the most by an Indian cricketer.
"They probably told him he’s not going to play the next two Tests" - Michael Clarke on R Ashwin
Michael Clarke believes Ravichandran Ashwin's retirement decision possibly stemmed from the team management confirming his exclusion from the playing XI for the final two Australian Tests.
India went with his off-spinning successor Washington Sundar in the first Test in Perth before turning to Ravindra Jadeja as the lone spinner in the most recent Brisbane outing.
"He has his reasons, I guess I’ve experienced that before in the Ashes. Ryan Harris, because of an injury, retired before the series was over. I’ve been through that. But yeah, I guess he has had the conversations with captain and coach, they probably told him he’s not going to play the next two Tests, so he decided to make that decision," Clarke said in the same interview.
Ashwin has arguably been India's biggest match-winner in the red-ball format, evidenced by his joint-world record of 11 Player of the Series awards in Tests.
The champion cricketer also enjoyed incredible success in the white-ball formats, helping India win the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.