Courtesy: IANS/X
On Thursday, December 19, Ravichandran Ashwin arrived in India after announcing his shock retirement from international cricket in a press conference alongside captain Rohit Sharma less than 24 hours ago in Australia. The 38-year-old landed in Chennai earlier this morning after departing from Brisbane, where the Indian cricket team had drawn the third Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series against Australia at the Gabba just a day ago.
Notably, the sudden announcement from Ravichandran Ashwin to retire from international cricket sent shockwaves in the cricketing community, especially since it was in the middle of the all-important BGT Test series, which is currently level at 1-1. India haven’t announced a replacement for Ravichandran Ashwin for the ongoing Test series against Australia, which would mean that the responsibility of shouldering the burden of the spin bowling department now rests on Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja.
I do feel there is a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer: Ravichandran Ashwin while announcing international retirement
In the viral video shared by IANS on their official X account, Ravichandran Ashwin could be spotted walking out of the Chennai airport while being surrounded by the officials, security personnel, journalists and the fans, with the latter looking to take a picture with him. After walking outside the airport in Chennai, Ravichandran Ashwin was welcomed by his wife Prithi and two daughters, who were sitting inside a car, waiting patiently for him to sit alongside them.
Watch the video of Ravichandran Ashwin arriving in India here:
Moreover, in a press conference just a day ago at the Gabba in Brisbane, Ravichandran Ashwin made his announcement to retire from international cricket while sitting alongside his good friend and the Indian captain Rohit Sharma. He was quoted as saying, as per India Today, “This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats of the game at the international level. I do feel there is a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer. I would like to showcase that in club level cricket. So this will be my last day. I have had a lot of fun. I must say I've created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my teammates.”
The former Indian cricketer also went on to thank the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and his teammates for helping him put together an incredible body of work at the international level over the last decade or so. He remarked, “Obviously, there are a lot of people to thank. But, I would be failing in my duty if I didn't thank the BCCI and the rest of my teammates. I want to name a few of them and all the coaches -- Rohit, Virat, Ajinkya and Pujara who have taken all those catches in the slips to help me get those wickets.”
