‘Had a long journey together since 2010’: Rohit Sharma on Ashwin’s retirement

An archive image of Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin. File | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

It was a Wednesday (December 18, 2024) full of speculation as rain drenched the Gabba. Rumors of retirement were in the air and when R. Ashwin made it clear that he was retiring from the international game, all speculation suddenly died down.

Rohit Sharma had a hunch since the first Test in Perth. After leaving the press conference hall, Ashwin addressed the media and said, “Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked.” If a player has a choice, he must be given that choice, and someone like Ashwin, who has been with us for so many years, is allowed to make such decisions and we as teammates have to respect that. He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team fully supported his thought process.”

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Speaking about the genesis of this decision, Rohit explained: “I heard that when I came to Perth. There are obviously many things behind this. I’m sure Ash can answer that. But he understands what the team is thinking, he understands what combinations we are thinking about and when we came here too we weren’t sure which spinner would play, we just wanted to assess and see what conditions we could face before us, but yeah, when I got to Perth that was the conversation we had.”

“I kind of convinced him to stay for that pink-ball Test (in Adelaide) and then, you know, it just happened that he felt it was the right time to say goodbye to the game, when I’m not needed. We should all stand by what he thinks at this point. That’s what I’m thinking right now and that’s the kind of conversation we’ve been having, him, Gautam Gambhir and me,” he adds.

When asked about his personal memories of Ashwin specifically, Rohit said, “I have played cricket with Ash since I was under 17. He was an opener back then. And then a few years later, I hear the news from Tamil Nadu that R Ashwin takes five wickets, seven wickets. And I was wondering who this guy is. I played him as a batter and then suddenly it turned out he was a five-for-bowler. Then of course we met again in international cricket and had a long journey together since 2010.”

Rohit waxed effusive while describing Ashwin’s contribution to Indian cricket: “He is a true match-winner India has ever seen. Whenever there was a crisis, we looked to Ash and he was there to help on our behalf. His record speaks for itself. He was a great servant of Indian cricket and left no stone unturned.”