On Monday, April 28, former Indian cricket player R Ashwin received the Padma Shri award in recognition of his accomplishments in the game. The cricketer from Tamil Nadu famously declared his retirement during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25. He has recently acknowledged that twice over the years, he considered retiring.
R Ashwin disclosed that he began to consider retirement during the 2023 home series against Australia and again after India thrashed England at home the following year.
The off-spinner revealed that he chose to participate in the home season even though he wanted to rest his kits following the 100th Test.
I wanted to do it after my 100th test, to be completely honest. After that, I decided to try it during the home season. Because, well, you’re playing well, taking wickets, and scoring runs. I therefore reasoned that playing a little would make sense. On the podcast show Mike Testing 123 to Mike Hussey, Ashwin stated, “I was having a lot of fun, but one of the most important things for me that was pulling me down was the family time, despite the hard work I had to put myself through to get back to the park, both physically and mentally.”
After taking six wickets and scoring a hundred in the Chennai Test match against Bangladesh, the seasoned spinner stated that he wished to retire. He did admit, though, that it was difficult to leave the game in that state. Later, after his poor performance in the home series against New Zealand, he persuaded himself to try the tour of Australia because of his outstanding performance against the Kangaroos in their home ground.
He acknowledged that after considering his options and being rested in the series opener in Perth, he made the decision to retire during the second Test in Adelaide.
“I assumed that this would be the best place to wrap up the Chennai Test. I ultimately received a hundred and a six-wicket haul. Therefore, when you’re doing really well, it’s quite difficult to quit. We lost against New Zealand, so I continued the series. So it was just building up one after the other. After that, I decided to travel to Australia. I’ll see how this plays out.
Because I had an amazing tour the last time I was in Australia. And I thought, “Okay, this whole circle keeps going again,” when I didn’t begin in Perth. People don’t really make your emotional struggles any more valuable. Since your feelings are yours and no one else cares, they don’t really take it into account. I was thinking about that, and then I realised, “Well, maybe it’s time,” he continued.
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