Ravichandran Ashwin: India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket. Ashwin announced his big decision after the Brisbane Test match between India and Australia was declared a draw. Announcing his retirement, Ashwin said that this is my last day as an Indian cricket player in all three formats of international cricket.
Ashwin has long been considered the strength of India’s spin bowling. During his 14-year career, he played 287 matches for India and took 765 wickets. Especially in Test matches, he proved to be very dangerous for the opposition teams. He took 537 wickets in Test matches and has been the Indian bowler with the highest number of Test wickets after Anil Kumble.
Cricket fans shocked by retirement announcement
The announcement of Ashwin’s retirement has come as a shock to Indian cricket fans. Before announcing his retirement from international cricket, Ashwin was seen hugging veteran batsman Virat Kohli in the dressing room. He was a part of the Indian team during the last day-night test match played in Adelaide. After the Gabba Test match draw ended today, he said goodbye to all three formats of cricket. The announcement of this 38-year-old Indian bowler’s retirement in Australia is being considered a shocking decision. No one expected such a big decision from Ashwin suddenly, but after the end of the Gabba Test match, he reached the press conference with Rohit Sharma and informed about his big decision.
Why is Ashwin considered a great bowler?
It is not without reason that Ashwin is considered India’s legendary bowler in international cricket. He played 106 Test matches for India and during this time he always maintained pressure on the opposition batsmen by taking 587 wickets. Seven wickets for 59 runs is his best bowling. During this period his average was 24.00 and strike rate was 50.73.
He represented the Indian team in 116 ODIs and took 156 wickets during this period. If we talk about T20, he took 72 wickets for Team India in 65 T20 matches. His best bowling in ODI is four wickets for 25 runs and in T20 he is four wickets for eight runs. His economy has been 4.93 in ODI and 6.90 in T20. However, Ashwin could not show the feat of taking 5 wickets even once in ODI and T20.
Record of taking fastest 300 wickets in test match
The record for the fastest 300 wickets in Tests for India is in the name of Ravichandran Ashwin. He achieved this feat in 54 matches. He achieved this feat against Sri Lanka in 2017. If we talk about India’s best bowlers, then after Anil Kumble, Ashwin is the bowler who has taken the most Test wickets from India. Kumble took 619 Test wickets during his international career.
Ashwin took 537 wickets during 106 test matches. He was expected to take more wickets but today he suddenly announced his retirement.
Kumble was also left behind in this matter
Another record of Ashwin is particularly noteworthy. He had even left Kumble behind in terms of taking 5 wickets in an innings. India’s legendary spinner Anil Kumble could do this feat only 35 times, whereas Ashwin showed the feat of taking five wickets 37 times during his international career.
In this matter, no Indian bowler could perform as brilliantly as Ashwin. However, at the international level, the record for taking five wickets in an innings for the most number of times is in the name of Sri Lanka’s legendary spinner Muthiya Muralitharan, who did this feat 67 times. In this matter, Ashwin is jointly at second place with Shane Warne.
Most wickets taken against England
If we look at Ashwin’s career, he took the most wickets against England. He played 53 matches against England in all three formats and during this he took 150 wickets. While playing in 50 matches against Australia, Ashwin took 146 wickets.
If we talk about taking wickets abroad, Ashwin took the most wickets in Australia. He took 71 wickets in all three formats of matches played on Australian grounds. In Sri Lanka, he took 49 wickets in 16 matches, while in India, Ashwin took 475 wickets in 131 matches.
Ashwin also showed amazing performance in batting.
However, apart from bowling, Ashwin also showed his hands in batting. In Test matches for India, he scored 3503 runs with an average of 25.03. His highest score in a test match has been 124 runs. During his Test career he scored six centuries and 14 half-centuries.
Apart from this, he has scored 707 runs in ODI at an average of 16.44 and 184 runs in T20 at a strike rate of 114.99. Batting on many critical occasions, he put Team India in a strong position.
Most number of ‘Player of the Series’ awards
There is another record in Ashwin’s name for which he will always be remembered. His Test debut was in 2011 and he has been the player to win the Player of the Series award the most number of times in Test matches. He won the Player of the Series award 11 times in Test matches and in this case he is jointly at number one with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan. He was also a member of Team India that won the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
Now Ashwin’s magic will be seen only in IPL
While he kept coming and going in the ODI and T20 teams, he remained a part of Team India in Test matches and during this time, he played a big role in making Team India win many Test matches. This is why the announcement of his retirement has come as a huge shock to cricket fans. Now in the coming days, he will be seen spreading his magic in the IPL on behalf of CSK. His contribution to the Indian team in international cricket will never be forgotten.
