नवीनतम
Ashwin announces retirement from international cricket
NEW DELHI [Maha Media]: India's premier off-spinner R Ashwin surprised the cricketing world on Wednesday by announcing his retirement, which will immediately take effect in the middle of the Test series against Australia here.
Ashwin retires from the game as the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 537 scalps in 106 games, leaving him only behind Anil Kumble (619 wickets). He will continue to play club cricket.
"I won't take too much of your time. Today will be the last day for me as an India cricketer," Ashwin said at the end of the drawn third Test here in a joint press conference with captain Rohit Sharma during which he declined to take any questions and left after making the announcement.
"This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level," Ashwin said after the Brisbane Test at a press conference. "I feel there's a little bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I'd like to express that, showcase that in club-level cricket.
"I've had a lot of fun. I have made a lot of memories alongside Rohit [Sharma] and several of my team-mates, even though we've lost some of them [to retirements] over the last few years. We're the last bunch of OGs, we can say that. I will be marking this as my date of having played at this level.
"Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I will be failing in my duties if I didn't thank the BCCI and fellow team-mates. I want to name a few of them, some of the coaches [also] who have been part of the journey. Most importantly, Rohit, Virat [Kohli], Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who have taken some of the catches around the bat and given me the number of wickets I've managed to get over the years."
Ashwin ends his Test career as India's second-highest wicket-taker in the format, with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests, only behind Anil Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets from 132 Tests.
He played only one of the first three Tests of the ongoing series in Australia, taking 1 for 53 in the day-night fixture in Adelaide. In the previous series, the 3-0 defeat at home to New Zealand, Ashwin had picked up only nine wickets at an average of 41.22.
Ashwin will be 39 by the time India's next home season comes around, as he is not a regular in the XI in India's overseas fixtures. Their next Test series is an away tour of England.
In addition to his wickets, Ashwin also scored 3503 Test runs with six hundreds and 14 fifties, making him one of 11 allrounders with more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, level with Muthiah Muralidaran.
