Former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has explained that he decided to retire from cricket on his own initiative and that “no one forced” him to do so halfway through the Test tour of Australia last year.
Following the third Test match of the 2024–25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Brisbane last year, Ashwin, 39, shocked the cricket community by declaring his retirement. In August earlier this year, he subsequently declared his retirement from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
“No one told me that you should go, no one told me that there is no place for you in the team. Actually before I took the decision 2-3 people told me not to take it but I took my decision. In fact, they wanted me to play more,” Ashwin said on his Youtube channel.
“Rohit Sharma (the then captain) also told me to think about it, Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir) also told me to think again. But I didn’t talk much about it (retirement) with Ajit Agarkar (chairman of selectors).
“The decision is very personal when it comes to retirement. These are all very individual decisions,” he added.
His claim ends rumors that the team management pressured him into making the choice. However, Ashwin had said that if he wasn’t going to be selected for the playing XI, he didn’t want to travel with the squad.
