The Indian former off-spinner R. Ashwin might retire after his 100th match, but he decided to call it quits during the Australian Tour. He was not willing to go through the same phase many times again concerning his in-playing eleven title. In a podcast with Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Ashwin shared with CSK batting coach Mike Hussey that he made his decision after not being selected to play the first match of the Australia series in Perth, where Washington Sundar played instead.
He should have played the second Adelaide Test but could not make it to the Gabba for the last. It was here that he called time on an illustrious career. “I wanted to retire after my 100th Test in Dharamsala during March 2024, to be honest. I thought of stretching it through the home season because I was performing fabulously,” Ashwin revealed. “I figured, I’ll probably wrap it up after the Chennai Test against Bangladesh where I ended up with a six-wicket haul and scored a hundred. It’s hard to walk away when you’re doing well.”
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He did hold onto the series, then in fact, lost to New Zealand. “It just keeps piling on. I thought I might check it out in Australia because I had such a great tour there the previous time,” he said, with alluding to his amazing 537 Test wickets.
Though he loved the game, Ashwin also knew that “it was taking a toll on him.” “I was having a lot of fun, but it took a lot of hard work to stay in shape, both physically and mentally. One of the biggest things weighing on me was missing family time,” he said.
He announced it at the Gabba, eventually. “I was feeling like a broken record when I didn’t play in Perth. People really don’t understand how you feel inside,” he pondered. “Your emotions are your own, and often they don’t seem to count for anyone else. So, I was thinking about it-and then it hit me that maybe it was time,” Ashwin concluded.
