Legendary cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin, who was presented with the Padma Shri award on Monday, revealed that he intended to retire from international cricket following the completion of the Chennai Test match against Bangladesh, in which he hit a century and even picked six wickets.
However, the all-rounder shocked everyone by announcing his retirement in the middle of the Australia tour and returning home midway through the series.
Ashwin Reveals Reason Behind Shock Retirement
Ashwin had previously acknowledged that he was considering retirement twice, once during the 2023 home series against Australia and again when India hammered the Bazballers the following year. Ashwin discussed his decision to retire on the franchise’s podcast show Mike Testing 123 with Mike Hussey, the current batting coach of CSK.”To be very honest, I wanted to do it after my 100th Test. And then I thought, Ok, let me give it a go in the home season. Because, I mean, you’re playing well and you’re getting wickets, you’re making runs. So I thought it does make sense to play a bit. I was having a lot of fun, but the whole hard yards that I had to put through to put myself on the park again, physically and mentally, one of the most important things for me that was pulling me down was the family time,” Ashwin said.Ashwin continued by stating that he hoped to continue during the home season before things took a turn in Australia. Additionally, he discussed the emotional component, especially after warming the bench in the first Test match in Perth, where Washington Sundar was picked ahead of him.”I thought I’ll probably close off (with) the Chennai Test here. I ended up getting a six-wicket haul and a hundred. So it’s very tough to quit when you’re doing very well. So, I went on with the series and we lost against New Zealand. So one after the other, it was just building up. And then I thought, okay, let me go to Australia. Let me see how this goes. Because the last time I was in Australia, I had a great, great tour,” he added.”And when I didn’t start in Perth, it was like, okay, this whole circle keeps going again. People add very little value to what you’re going through emotionally. They don’t really consider that because your emotions are yours and it doesn’t matter to anybody else. So I had been contemplating that and then I thought, okay, maybe it is time,” Ashwin concluded.