When Virat Kohli was seen having a warm conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin in the Indian dressing room during the final stages of the Gabba Test against Australia on Wednesday, speculation was rife about India’s ace off-spinner announcing his retirement, which he later made official — pulling the curtains down on his glorious 14-year international career.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at an international level,” said the 38-year-old Ashwin, while sitting alongside his captain, Rohit Sharma, in the press conference after the rain-hit third Test in Brisbane ended in a draw on the final day.
Ashwin wasn’t included in the playing eleven for the match in Brisbane, but did play the second Test in Adelaide, where he took one wicket.
R Ashwin retirement press conference: Emotional hug with Rohit as Ashwin retires from all formats
Moments after Ashwin’s big announcement, Kohli came up with an emotional social media post to praise Ashwin’s achievements as a player and his contribution to Indian cricket.
“I’ve played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you’re retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me,” Kohli’s post read.
“I’ve enjoyed every bit of the journey with you Ash, your skill and match-winning contributions to Indian cricket are second to none and you will always and always be remembered as a legend of Indian cricket. Wish you nothing but the best in your life with your family and everything else that it unfolds for you. With massive respect and lots of love to you and your close ones. Thanks for everything buddy.”
Ashwin also mentioned Kohli’s name while announcing his retirement, where he didn’t take any questions from the media and left soon after saying a few words.
“I’ve created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and my other teammates. Most importantly Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara who have taken those splendid catches around the bat to give me the number of wickets I’ve managed to get over the years,” Ashwin said.
He finished his career as the second highest Indian wicket-taker in red-ball internationals with 537 scalps, including 37 five-fors and a best of 7/59. His best match-haul in Tests reads 13/140.
Ashwin also played 116 ODIs and 65 T20Is, finishing with 156 and 72 wickets respectively.
He was also a more than reliable batsman, having scored six Test centuries which also perched him on top of the ICC Rankings for Test all-rounders during his successful career.
He will continue to play club-level cricket, chiefly the Indian Premier League.