He retired from Indian cricket team with 537 Test scalps to his name. His Test wicket tally is the second-highest for India, only behind Anil Kumble’s 619. (Express Photo by Nirmal Harindran)
Ravichandran Ashwin posted a photo on Instagram on Monday with a quote, a few days after he announced his retirement after the 3rd Test of the Border Gavaskar trophy at the Gabba.
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,” the off spinner posted with a selfie.
The spinner called time on his career on December 18 right after the third India vs Australia Test match ended in a draw. Ashwin’s decision to retire in the middle of the series, with two Tests remaining did raise some eyebrows. Especially, since the fifth Test would favour spinners.
In the three Tests in Australia, he only played in one Test. He retired from Indian cricket team with 537 Test scalps to his name. His Test wicket tally is the second-highest for India, only behind Anil Kumble’s 619.
Remarkably, the spinner has recorded a hundred and a five-wicket haul in a Test on four occasions, only bettered by England cricket legend Ian Botham, who had five such games.
Within the team, except for skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Gautam Gambhir, the decision came as a shock for the rest. Virat Kohli’s hug, which was played repeatedly by the broadcasters, seemed every bit spontaneous as he, along with the rest of them, got to know only at the end of the Brisbane Test.
Meanwhile, India have issued a maiden call-up to Mumbai off-spinner Tanush Kotian, who is set to join the team as a replacement of Ashwin for the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting in Melbourne.
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