Indian spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin said that his sudden international retirement in the midst of the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia eventually got to him after he had to miss Test matches on foreign tours.
After the third Test in Brisbane last December, Ashwin, who is only the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to have taken more than 500 Test wickets, shocked everyone by declaring his retirement.
“I was pretty old, I must admit. But going on tours, and having to just sit out (a) lot more, eventually got to me,” Ashwin told former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid in a chat on his YouTube channel.
“I mean, not in terms of not wanting to contribute to the team, but you’re thinking if I would rather be at home, spending time with children. They are also growing up, and what am I actually doing? So I just felt like okay… In my head, I always decided that I would retire at 34-35. But just the fact that I could not play a lot in between…” he added.
Ashwin, who debuted in Test cricket in November 2011, claimed 383 wickets in 65 Test matches in India and another 150 in 40 away games. In the 2019–21 World Test Championship final versus New Zealand in UK, he claimed four wickets in the lone neutral Test match.
