Former India Cricketer Reflects on Ravichandran Ashwin's Retirement After Perth Test

India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently shocked the cricketing world by announcing his retirement from international cricket after the conclusion of the third Test against Australia at Gabba, Brisbane. Speculations suggest that the decision stemmed from Ashwin's frustration of consistently being left on the bench during overseas matches. Aakash Chopra, former India opening batter, believes that Ashwin made the tough choice of ending his international career due to this ongoing issue.

Ashwin did not play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener in Perth as Washington Sundar was preferred ahead of him and Ravindra Jadeja. The 38-year-old then returned to the playing XI for the Adelaide pink-ball Test.

However, he was once again asked to sit on the sidelines for the Gabba Test as Ravindra Jadeja got a chance in Brisbane.

"What exactly has happened? There is a moment in everyone's life, where you think, do I want to do this anymore? Am I OK with it? Ashwin must have had this in his mind for a long time that he does not play much overseas. He is not the No.1 spin option when it comes to overseas games," said Chopra on his Youtube Channel.

"This was going on for quite some time. He made peace with it. Jaddu was always ahead of him overseas. So, he made peace with it that Jadeja is playing,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel," he added.

Aakash Chopra reckons that Washington Sundar playing ahead of Ashwin might have led to the senior off-spinner deciding that he should call time on his international career.

“But when Sundar played the Perth Test, then he said, that's it, I am done. Ashwin played the Pink-ball Test but when he was dropped from Gabba, he said, he was done," said Aakash Chopra.

"You are not serious in playing me in the XI. I did nothing wrong in the pink-ball Test to be dropped from the Gabba game. In Gabba, Jaddu made runs, so Ashwin was unlikely to feature in Melbourne," he added.

Ashwin called time on his international career, taking 765 wickets across all three formats of the game. He finishes as the second-highest wicket-taker for Indian bowlers in Tests, only second to Anil Kumble.

Ashwin is also currently the second-highest off-spinner in Tests after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan. The Indian spinner will continue to play club cricket and represent Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL.