R Ashwin retirement from international cricket came as a massive shock to his fans all over the world, but then, it seems it was a planned move after all. Rohit Sharma, at the press conference, after the IND vs AUS Brisbane Test revealed that he came to know about the move during the Perth Test itself, and asked him to stop till the pink-ball Test in Adelaide.
Rohit Sharma’s Story on R Ashwin Retirement
“Heard about R Ashwin’s retirement when I came to Perth… he understands what team is thinking, combinations what team is thinking. I convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test. Some decisions are personal and there’s no need to question. Ashwin is allowed to make it on his own and we respect it. We back his thought process. For us, we have time to regroup and collect our thoughts. Whenever there was crisis, he was there. He is such a servant for Indian cricket he’s not left any stone unturned.”
Meanwhile, Ashwin had a short, but rather emotional retirement announcement. At the press conference, he went on to reveal, “I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to probably showcase that in club cricket. But this will be the last day, and I had a lot of fun.
Ashwin Speech
“I must say I’ve created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates, even though I lost some of them over the last few years. We are the last bunch of OGs, if we can say that, left out in the dressing room, and I’d be marking this as my date of having played at this level.
“Obviously, there are a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I didn’t thank the BCCI and the fellow teammates, several of them.”
