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Australian off-spinner Nathan Lyon heaped praise on his Indian counterpart Ravichandran Ashwin, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, December 12. The Indian spinner made his announcement during the post-match press conference, after the third Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 ended in a draw at The Gabba. Ashwin played the second match of the five-match series in Brisbane, and retired from the game as the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Tests with 537 wickets in 106 games, sitting only behind Indian legend
As the announcement came, Lyon heaped praise on the Indian bowler and wished him the best for his retirement. Not only this, but he also hailed his skillset as ‘incredible’. Lyon spoke to Fox Cricket and said, “Nothing but respect (for Ashwin). Just the way Ash has conducted himself on and off the field for a number of years now, and his skill set is incredible. We’ve got different opinions on different things, there’s no right or wrong. But to have those conversations with a bowler like Ashwin is amazing.”
He added, “We are both very different. So our conversation this morning was brilliant and I hope we have more through the series and in the future as well.”
If I'm not needed right now in the series, I'm better off: Rohit Sharma reveals Ashwin’s words before retirement
During the post-match conference, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma revealed what Ashwin told him. He said, “He was very very sure about this decision I heard this when I came to Perth. Obviously, I was not there for the first three or four days of the Test match, but this was in his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it; I'm pretty sure, you know, Ash, when he went in position, will be able to answer that.”
He added, "It just happened so that if you know where he felt that, 'if I'm not needed right now in the series, I'm better off. Saying goodbye to the game, but obviously, we've not been to Melbourne yet, so we don't know what sort of conditions we expect there and what sort of combination, but just keeping Ash in particularly in mind, giving him that respect that this if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way and we should all stand by."
