“Ashwin did what Dhoni did” – Sunil Gavaskar disagrees with the timing of his retirement | Cricket News

Ravichandran Ashwin (Photo Source: X)

Former India captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar disagreed with the timing of Ravichandran Ashwin’s retirement announcement, saying he was “missing a (player) in the middle of an important series”.
Ashwin has decided to give up international career cricket with immediate effect, while he remains available for cricket at club level and is expected to feature in the 2025 Indian Premier League season.
Ashwin, who ended his career with 537 Test wickets, played the pink-ball Test in Adelaide but was dropped from the eleven for the third Test in Brisbane, which ended in a draw on Friday, leaving the five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy is still level at 1:1.

“He could have said, ‘Look, after the series ends I won’t be available for selection for India anymore’. What it does is that, similar to MS Dhoni, who retired at the end of the third Test in 2014. 15 series, one (player) is left short,” Gavaskar said while speaking on the live broadcast.
“Usually you tend to look at the end of the series (to retire). That’s all. This is not common in the middle,” he added.
“The selection committee selected so many players for a tour with a specific goal. If there are injuries, they can choose from the reserve players they want in the team. So Sydney (venue of the fifth Test) is somewhere where there is. “There is a lot of support for the spinners. You never know, he (Ashwin) could have been there for sure, what the pitch in Melbourne (venue of the fourth Test) will be like.”

The other off-spinner in India’s squad is Washington Sundar, who played the first Test in Perth and, like Ashwin, is a skilled batsman further down the order.
“Maybe Washington Sundar is ahead of him (as the preferred off-spinner),” Gavaskar said. “Rohit mentioned that he (Ashwin) is leaving tomorrow. So this marks the end of Ashwin’s career as an international cricketer. He was a damn good cricketer.”