"Just leave it" - Ravichandran Ashwin tells Virat Kohli to retire after consecutive ducks vs Australia

Has spin-bowling legend Ravichandran Ashwin sent a message to the modern-day batting great Virat Kohli to announce his retirement from international cricket following his failures with the bat against the Australian National Cricket Team? Fans on social media feel so.

On Thursday, October 23, former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared a cryptic post on X.com, which fans linked to Virat Kohli as it came after his consecutive flop shows Down Under.

Virat Kohli falls for the second consecutive duck

The modern-day batting great Virat Kohli was unable to deliver a good performance in the second consecutive match against the Australia National Cricket Team.

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In the series-opening clash at Perth Stadium, Kohli got out for 0 while trying to play a drive outside off-stump off Mitchell Starc's delivery, and he ended up edging it to Cooper Connolly, who managed to take a brilliant catch.

It was expected that Kohli would bounce back in the Adelaide ODI as he loves playing at that venue and has got an exceptional record. However, that didn't happen, and he once again fell for a duck.

On the 5th ball of the 7th over, Xavier Bartlett bowled a length delivery around off-stump that skidded through and hit Kohli on the pads as he was trying to play a flick shot.

The umpire instantly raised a finger, and after a lengthy chat with Rohit Sharma, Kohli decided to walk off the field while acknowledging the crowd close to the boundary.

With a duck in the 2nd ODI, Kohli hit a historic low in his career. It was the very first time in his 304-match ODI career that Kohli got out for ducks in two consecutive matches. Before this, he was previously dismissed for two ducks on the trot in a Test and T20I in Ahmedabad in 2021.

This latest flop show marked Kohli’s 40th duck in international cricket. Among the top six batters, only Sanath Jayasuriya (50), Mahela Jayawardene (44), Chris Gayle (43), and Younis Khan (42) have more ducks than the Indian batting great.

Also, the Adelaide ODI duck put Kohli in the same position as Ishant Sharma for the second-most ducks by an Indian, with the duo only behind Zaheer Khan, who bagged 43 ducks.

Just leave it - Ravichandran Ashwin

Team India, eventually, ended up losing the second ODI against Australia by 2 wickets at Adelaide Oval and faced a series defeat with one match remaining, which will be played at Sydney Cricket Ground.

A few minutes after the match between India and Australia finished, Ravichandran Ashwin shared a cryptic post on X, with a Nike logo, which had "Just Leave It" written in tri-colors.

Notably, it was a term twisted by Ravichandran Ashwin from the original"Just Do It" trademark of the shoe company Nike - a tagline coined in 1988 at an advertising agency meeting.

Fans on social media speculated that Ravichandran Ashwin was targeting Kohli with his post and asking him to retire from cricket.

Here's How Fans Reacted To Ravichandran Ashwin's Post:

Cryptic message for Kohli.pic.twitter.com/b8Twqp95Y1

— Yash. (@TheSDELad) October 23, 2025

🤣🤣KOHLI WON'T LEAVE IT.

— Spot me 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@aryankitnain) October 23, 2025

Cooked premless chokli 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/peboQFvObr

— jigsawww (@JIGSAWxCSK) October 23, 2025

Just leave it ??

Hidden msg for Kohli?

— भाई साहब (@Bhai_saheb) October 23, 2025

It's a sign that Kohli soon announces his retirement.

— Priyesh (@priyesssssh_07) October 23, 2025

Is this a message for Virat to Retire from cricket?

— Saffron Hawk (@SaffronHawk) October 23, 2025

Virat Kohli is not harmed here

— Rahul (@meri_mrziii) October 23, 2025

This is a direct reference to Virat.

— सनातनी 🚩 (@manegh27) October 23, 2025

Ashwin giving hint to Kohli

— Peturam (@RatlamiSevv) October 23, 2025

Bro forcing kohli to retire. 😂

— Pravin Kale (@pravinkale_) October 23, 2025

Also Read: Virat Kohli put on same level as Saim Ayub by this Cricket Board