Ravichandran Ashwin, the best off-spinner in India, has declared his retirement from international cricket.
At the end of the third India vs. Australia Test, which ended in a draw, Ashwin, the nation’s second-highest Test wicket-taker after Anil Kumble, announced his choice to the world.
During the first three Test matches of the current Australia tour, the 38-year-old was only included in the playing XI once. In the pink-ball match in Adelaide, he took 1 for 53. In the previous series, Ashwin had taken nine wickets at an average of 41.22 in the 0–3 loss to New Zealand at home.
The team’s upcoming red-ball series is a tour of England, and Ashwin will turn 39 when the next home games are played. He was no longer a regular player in India’s overseas Test matches.
With 3,503 Test runs, six hundreds, and 14 fifties in addition to his bowling, Ashwin is one of just 11 all-rounders in the world to have achieved the feat of 3000 runs and 300 wickets. In addition, he tied Muttiah Muralitharan for the most Player of the Series honors with eleven.
With 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 games, Ashwin finishes his Test career second only to Kumble, who finished with 619 wickets from 132 Test matches.
