India skipper Rohit Sharma has revealed that Ravichandran Ashwin had made up his mind to retire from international cricket during the Perth Test. However, it was Rohit who convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test in Adelaide and included him in the playing XI having featured in the day-night Test before on the last tour to Australia as well. For the unversed, Ashwin made his retirement announcement official in the press conference at the end of the third Test at Gabba in Brisbane against Australia.
"Heard about Ashwin’s retirement when I came to Perth, I convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test," Rohit said when asked about the spin-wizard's retirement. Rohit Sharma also cleared that as teammates, they have to respect his decision to step away from the sport. The Indian captain also informed that Ashwin will leave the squad tomorrow and travel back home.
"Some decisions are very personal and I don't think too many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has [made] a choice, he has to be given that choice, and somebody like Ashwin who has been there for us for so many years is allowed to make those kind of decisions on his own and we as team-mates have to respect it. He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team has complete backing of his thought process.
"Obviously, there's a bit of gap now so for us, as a team, to regroup and collect our thoughts on this is very very crucial right now. We've got some time to think about how we need to proceed further. But speaking about Ash, he was very very sure about his decision," Rohit said in the post-match press conference.
As for Ashwin, he has ended his Test career with 537 wickets, the second-highest for India in the format only behind Anil Kumble who scalped 619 wickets in his illustrious career. Overall, he is the seventh highest wicket-taker in the format and fourth among spinners.
