admin
With the recent changes in the Indian squad, especially the removal of Rohit Sharma from ODI captaincy, there have been a lot of discussions around the retirement of Sharma, Kohli, and Ravichandran Ashwin from Test cricket. However, the veteran Indian off-spinner, Ashwin, has swatted away the ‘forced into retirement’ chatter. The all-rounder claims that his exit from BGT 2024-25 and later his IPL exit were entirely his own decision.
In a recent video on his YouTube channel, Ravichandran Ashwin made it clear that seniors asked him to rethink the decision and not retire. This statement by him matters very much with the Rohit-Gambhir narrative that has been raging the entire week.
Ashwin confirms no one forced his retirement
“No one told me that you should go, no one told me that there is no place for you in the team. Actually, before I took the decision, 2-3 people told me not to take it, but I took my decision. In fact, they wanted me to play more,” Ashwin said. He further added, “Rohit Sharma also told me to think about it, Gauti bhai also told me to think again. But I didn’t talk much about it with Ajit Agarkar. The decision is very personal when it comes to retirement. These are all very individual decisions.”
The statement from Ashwin was very unambiguous. The key phrases – “no one told me…”, “wanted me to play more”, and others directly undercut the “forced out” claim. The framing also explains the mid-series timing – a personal line in the sand, not a nudge from the management.
Rohit Sharma’s narrative of Ashwin’s call
There is a corroboration from Rohit Sharma’s own recounting of the day Ashwin retired in Brisbane. Rohit laid out the dressing room chat, “We had this chat when I arrived in Perth. I somehow convinced him to stay for the pink-ball Test and then… it just happened. He felt that if I am not needed right now in the series, I am better off saying goodbye to the game.”
The fact that Ashwin was not playing an active part in the Australia tour might have been the trigger behind his decision. The off-spinner himself later explained that waiting for only the home series did not make sense for him at that stage of his career, and hence the decision.
Put the pieces together, and the picture is consistent across characters and time. Ashwin’s clarification says nobody pushed him; in fact, to the contrary, key figures in the management asked him to stay. Rohit Sharma’s account also confirms that there were no invisible forces pulling the strings behind Ashwin’s departure; it was all his personal decision.
