Indian legend Ravichandran Ashwin revealed the reason behind his decision to retire midway through the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series in Australia. However, former India captain Kapil Dev expressed his disappointment over Ravichandran Ashwin’s decision and added that he should have waited.

India tried three spinners during the first three Tests of the BGT. Washington Sundar played the first match and Ravichandran Ashwin replaced him in the second. Ravindra Jadeja took Ashwin’s place for the third Test. Ashwin surprised everyone with his retirement announcement after the third Test in Brisbane.

Ravichandran Ashwin is a very stubborn guy – Kapil Dev

Speaking to Gulf News, Kapil Dev spoke about Ashwin’s decision to retire midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. Dev stated that Ashwin could have waited until after the Sydney Test to make the announcement, adding that his timing could have been better.

“Ashwin is a very stubborn guy. It’s good to see characters like that in cricketers. I felt a little sad when he left in the middle of the tour. He was a great cricketer that India has produced and served the game very well, but he should have waited and done it differently. However, what he did for the country is incredible,” Kapil said.

The 38-year-old spinner’s performance was below his usual standards in the home series against New Zealand, taking nine wickets at an average of 41.22. Ashwin retired with 537 wickets in 106 Tests, including 37 five-wicket hauls. He was behind only Anil Kumble (619) among India’s all-time wicket-takers.

He might have been injured when he was pushed behind Sundar – Bharat Arun

Bharat Arun, former bowling coach, said Ashwin might have been “hurt” after being replaced by Washington Sundar in the first Test. Arun added that while Ashwin had earlier been replaced by Ravindra Jadeja on overseas tours, this situation seemed to affect him more.

“In the first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed by a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him. In the past, Ravindra Jadeja has played a lot ahead of Ashwin on overseas tours, but not “I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that, but I think this time he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order,” Bharat Arun said.

Ravichandran Ashwin is ranked 8th in the list of top Test performers

Ravichandran Ashwin retired as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in international cricket, with 765 wickets across all formats, behind only Anil Kumble (953). Ashwin is the eighth leading wicket-taker in Test cricket. He also scored 3,503 runs at an average of 25.76, including six centuries in Tests.

The all-time leading Test wicket-taker is Muttiah Muralitharan (800), followed by Shane Warne (708) and James Anderson (704). Ashwin is expected to continue playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, after being bought for a whopping Rs 9.75 crore in the mega auction.

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