Ashwin, 38, retires as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 537 wickets from 106 matches, only behind Anil Kumble
Indian cricketer and veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket after the third Test match against Australia in Brisbane that ended in a draw, on Wednesday, December 18. The announcement was made during a post-match press conference alongside skipper Rohit Sharma.
Ashwin, 38, retires as India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket with 537 wickets from 106 matches. He is only behind Anil Kumble, who holds the record with 619 wickets. Despite being part of the squad for the second Test in Adelaide, Ashwin was replaced by Ravindra Jadeja for the Brisbane match.
While retiring from international cricket, Ashwin will continue playing in T20 tournaments, including representing Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2025.
His international cricket career has been defined by his leadership in India's bowling attack, particularly during the country's rise to the top of Test cricket from 2014 to 2019.
In the white-ball format, Ashwin made 181 appearances and took 228 wickets. In ODIs, he played 116 matches, taking 156 wickets at an average of 33.20, with a best performance of 4/25. He also contributed 707 runs at an average of 16.44, including one fifty with a highest score of 65 from 63 innings. Ashwin is India's 13th-highest wicket-taker in ODIs.
In T20Is, Ashwin played 65 matches, taking 72 wickets at an average of 23.22, with his best figures being 4/8. He also scored 184 runs in 19 innings at an average of 26.28, with a top score of 31. He is India’s sixth-highest wicket-taker in T20Is.
Overall, Ashwin has taken 765 wickets in 287 matches across all formats, making him the second-highest wicket-taker for India, behind Kumble’s 953. He also contributed to India’s victories in the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
ASHWIN'S STATEMENT:
"Hello everyone, I really didn't want to make this about myself, honestly, I think it would have been better if (Jasprit) Bumrah was here or Akash (Deep) was here, but Rohit is unfortunate to have me along his side. I don't want to take too much of your time, but this will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats as in the at the international level. I do feel there's a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to expose and probably showcase that in club level cricket, but this will be the last day and I've had a lot of fun.
"I must say I've created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates, even though I've lost some of them over the last few years. We are the last bunch of the OGs (old generation) if you can say that, left out in the dressing room and I will be marking this as my date having played at this level.
"There are a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I didn't thank the BCCI and the fellow teammates and I want to name a few of them. All the coaches who've been in part of the journey, most importantly Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, who've taken those splendid catches around the bat to give me the number of wickets I've managed to get over the years.
"Also a big thank you to the Australian cricket team who've been very fierce competitors. I have enjoyed my time playing against them. And I think it's already getting long. I won't be taking any questions, but it's truly a very emotional moment. I don't think I'm in in a position where I would be answering the questions in the right way, so please pardon me for that. And once again, yeah, that's my time.
"Thanks for being the journalists that you've been writing good things and of course writing nasty things on occasions. That's a relationship I think we would maintain, forever and I hope the cricketers to come in the future will also get the same amount of love that you've given them.
"Once again, thank you all and yeah, see you all soon. As a cricketer, I just stopped it and I might go on to be involved with the game because this is a game that's given me everything, right?
"Thank you."
