All is well in India cricket? Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s conflicting views on R Ashwin’s retirement spark confusion | Mint

Ravichandran Ashwin’s sudden retirement announcement on Wednesday surprised many, including former cricketers like Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar, considering India still have two matches left in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Australia.

With the Sydney track for the last Test (from January 3) traditionally offering more help to spinners, Ashwin’s premature exit in the middle of the series indicates that all are not on the same page in Indian cricket.

From the outside, it looks like a growing preference for Washington Sundar over veteran Ashwin may have forced the 38-year-old to make up his mind some time ago. Following Sundar’s good performance against New Zealand at home, the Tamil Nadu spinner got the nod in Perth ahead of Ashwin.

Although Ashwin played in Adelaide, the off-spinner was dropped again in Brisbane. Upon his return to India on Thursday, Ashwin said, “It had been running in my head for a while, but it was very instinctive. I felt it on day 4 and called it on day 5.”

What did Rohit, Virat say about Ashwin’s retirement?

However, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s versions of Ashwin tell a different story. Moments after Ashwin’s retirement announcement, Rohit was asked when he learned about it.

“I heard this when I came to Perth (venue of the first Test). 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. He understands what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking,” Rohit said.

“When I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had. I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink-ball Test match. It just happened so that he felt that ‘if I am not needed right now in the series, I am better off saying goodbye to the game,” added the Indian captain.

Former India captain Kohli revealed that he only got to know about Ashwin’s retirement on Wednesday. 

“I’ve played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you’re retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me,” Kohli posted on X.

Any decision in the Indian cricket team’s dressing room, especially one involving a player of Ashwin’s stature, requires maturity and should not be made hastily. Combined with Rohit and Kohli’s versions, it clearly indicates that nothing is going right in the Indian dressing room.

Ashwin also contradicted Rohit on another matter. Following the off-spinner’s announcement, Rohit said Ashwin will return to India on Thursday. But to everyone’s surprise, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star boarded a flight back home on Wednesday itself.

Ashwin’s retirement irks Gavaskar

Gavaskar, who is currently on commentating duties, felt Ashwin should have genuinely started in Sydney, considering playing two spinners have generally been the norm at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 

The former Indian captain also felt that Ashwin could have honoured his commitment till the end of the series. “A selection committee has picked so many players for the tour with a purpose. If there’s an injury, etc. then someone from the reserves may take up that place.

“But Sydney is somewhere where everybody talks about there being help for spinners. So, he could have played. India could have played with two spinners you never know. And he would have been there for sure. But yes, normally, you tend to say, ‘Look, at the end of the series, that’s it.’ But in the middle is no usual,” said Gavaskar.