‘Wanted to leave things…’: Ravichandran Ashwin breaks silence on his retirement from international cricket
Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin shockingly announced his retirement from international cricket following the conclusion of the third Border-Gavaskar series Test in Brisbane. The off-spinner ended his career as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in history with 765 wickets.
Following the massive announcement, many India legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Erapalli Prasanna questioned Ashwin’s decision of retiring midway through the crucial Australia series.
Speaking to Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Ashwin revealed that he had considered retirement earlier as well but finally decided about it when he felt that his creativity could no longer be fulfilled.
“I suddenly felt that the creative side didn’t have a lot of upsides to explore,”
“There is always that question that lies inside you. You keep asking yourself, ‘Am I making this decision the right way?’ In my case, it was slightly different. I do not know how to exactly position this. I’ve never been a person who holds onto things. I’ve never felt insecure in life. I don’t believe what is mine today is going to be mine tomorrow. That has probably been one of my elevating factors all these years,” Ashwin said.
During his 14-year long career, Ashwin picked up a highly impressive 537 wickets in red-ball cricket and retired as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in the format. Speaking on the podcast, Ashwin revealed that he did think about retirement previously as well, but decided to hang up his boots after he felt that hi creative side had nothing left to explore.
“I did contemplate [retirement] a few times. For me, the day I woke up and felt the creative side of me didn’t have a future or direction, that would be the day I would give it up. I suddenly felt that the creative side didn’t have a lot of upsides to explore,” Ashwin said.
“I’ve got no regrets because I’ve had to do it the hard way, but it has left me with the idea that the game has been my calling. People find their calling at different stages of their life, but I’m so glad this game found me and has given me meaning to life. I’ve played Test cricket for so long, and it’s even taught me how to construct and live my life. It’s the most beautiful thing that has happened for me,” Ashwin added.
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