"I must move on or Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma" - Ravichandran Ashwin breaks silence on forced retirement.

Ravichandran Ashwin reacted to rumors suggesting that head coach Gautam Gambhir forced his sudden retirement from international cricket. The spinner announced his retirement during the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, flying back to India after the third Test draw at the Gabba while the series remained tied 1-1.

The unexpected decision raised eyebrows among cricket experts, as the legendary bowler retired with two matches still left in the series. Notably, Washington Sundar was preferred over Ashwin in the playing XI in the first Test. Ashwin was recalled for the second Test but he was again dropped for the third Test.

I Must Move On or Virat Must Move On or Rohit Must Move On - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin said that he has no grudges against Gautam Gambhir. He stated that he understands the management’s perspective if Gambhir felt it was time for senior players, including himself, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma, to move on from the setup.

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"If somebody has to have angst against Gautam, it's me, right? I I come out on his second tour or third tour when he's been the coach. Gautam, the coach, has got a job to do for me in many ways, and even if he thought that I must move on or Virat must move on or Rohit must move on, it's okay; it's fine because he has a job to do, and at that particular instance, if I felt bitter about it that's also okay because it's my emotion, but if you detach yourself from that, it's clear to me that he's got a job to do and maybe I do not have a future in his regime," said Ashwin during the RevSports Conclave.

"But I I have always wanted to shed ego first thing in my life, and I'm still in the process of shedding ego. We all are human beings. It comes to us. But if you detach yourself, things do make sense. Sometimes because of the adulation we get in this country, we do end up thinking that we are invincible which is not the case," he added.

I’m Not One of Those Guys Who Will Hang Around - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin said that when the management continuously rotated him alongside Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja, he realized he no longer fit into their long-term plans.

"My strongest assets, I feel, is my ability to make decisions. Whether it's right or wrong is for people to debate. But at the end of the day, it's my life. I need to do it on my terms. The moment, I think, at Perth, when we had Jaddu and myself as the lead spinners in the side, and Washy played that game in Perth, and then the next game, again, I came in, and then I had to again make way, was kind of suggestive or indicative to me that my time was up."

"And if somebody else had to come and take up that place, by all means, they need their space and time. And I'm not one of those guys who will hang around, you know, want to see if I can make a comeback. I've had far too many. I've come far, far too much in my life to be able to, you know, dilly-dally around with all those things," he added.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s Stellar Career Numbers Across Formats

Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 765 wickets across 287 international matches. He took 537 wickets in 106 Tests, including 37 five-wicket hauls, the joint second-most in the format. The cricketer also scored 3,503 runs, including six centuries. He remains the fastest bowler to reach 350 Test wickets.

The Tamil Nadu-born cricketer picked up 156 wickets in 116 ODIs and 72 wickets in 65 T20Is. After making his white-ball debuts in 2010 against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, he played his first Test in 2011 against the West Indies, picking up nine wickets, including a six-wicket haul.

Ashwin retired as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test history. He won 11 Player of the Series awards and was part of India’s title-winning campaigns in the 2011 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

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