Legendary spinner Anil Kumble has openly expressed his disappointment at how Indian cricket handled Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement. Ashwin, one of the finest off-spinners cricket has ever seen, announced his retirement in an understated manner after the drawn third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) at the Gabba. Accompanying captain Rohit Sharma, Ashwin confirmed it was his last day as an international cricketer during a post-match press conference.
Kumble was vocal about India’s inability to utilise Ashwin’s full potential throughout his illustrious career. Despite being the best spinner of his generation, Ashwin wasn’t considered when India selected playing XIs for overseas Tests.
Speaking about the off-spinner’s treatment by the team management, Kumble said, “It has always puzzled me why Ashwin wasn’t consistently picked for matches in England, South Africa, and Australia. Pairing him with Ravindra Jadeja could have yielded tremendous results. Ashwin has proven himself across all conditions, yet he was often pigeonholed as a subcontinental spinner, which is unjust.” He wrote this in his column for Sportstar.
Anil Kumble on Ravi Ashwin’s not-so grand farewell
Anil Kumble also wieghed in on the fact that Ravi Ashwin’s farewell was something that wasn’t great. It was a subtle one-paragraph announcement by Ashwin, who decorated 765 international wickets at an average of 25.8 in his career. Kumble highlighted the lack of a proper farewell for Ashwin, a player who set benchmarks that may remain unmatched for years.
“Players who have contributed for such a long period deserve a grand farewell. They need to be sat down and offered an appropriate plan on how you want them to leave the game. I was very disappointed with the way Ashwin left. Many cricketers in the past missed out on a farewell, too. The kind of benchmarks he has set won’t be easy for anyone to live up to. He served Indian cricket with distinction.”
Indian players with most international wickets ft. Ashwin, Kumble
| Player | Span | Mat | Wkts | BBI | Ave | SR | 5 | 10 |
| Anil Kumble | 1990-2008 | 401 | 953 | 10/74 | 30.06 | 57.94 | 37 | 8 |
| R Ashwin | 2010-2024 | 287 | 765 | 7/59 | 25.8 | 45.75 | 37 | 8 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 1998-2016 | 365 | 707 | 8/84 | 32.59 | 58.77 | 28 | 5 |
| Kapil Dev | 1978-1994 | 356 | 687 | 9/83 | 28.83 | 56.68 | 24 | 2 |
| Zaheer Khan | 2000-2014 | 303 | 597 | 7/87 | 31.48 | 48.49 | 12 | 1 |
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