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Ravichandran Ashwin’s sudden retirement after the Gabba Test saw India slip from a 1-1 series score line to 3-1.
Ashwin is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests. (Photo Credits: X)
Former Australian cricketer Brad Haddin found it funny that Ravichandran Ashwin retired in the middle of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy and blamed it on India’s confused tactics. Haddin also feels that there’s more to the story of Ashwin’s sudden departure than what’s available to the public so far.
Ashwin played only the second Test of the series in Adelaide, replacing Washington Sundar after the first match in Perth. Ravindra Jadeja then came in for Ashwin in the third Test at the Gabba, where, after the match ended in a draw, the off-spinner announced he was leaving international cricket via a brief press conference on the final day.
“The first three Test matches, they played three different spinners, so they arrived here not knowing what their game style is going to be around here,” Haddin said on the Willow Talk podcast. “It shouldn’t be a shock when you get here, they have played here enough, they have success here so the Ashwin retiring mid-series was a funny one. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of that yet. I think he was just jack of not getting picked.”
“I think he sees himself as the number one spinner. His record is elite, and he just went, ‘You know what I’m not sitting on the bench. If you can’t decide that I’m your best spinner, I’m done. I’ve played enough. I don’t need this.’ I don’t think we have heard the end of that,” Haddin added.
When Ashwin announced his retirement, the series was tied 1-1. After that, India leaned even further on batting all-rounders for the matches in Melbourne and Sydney, but that resulted in two huge losses and the series slipping to 3-1, also confirming India won’t qualify for the 2025 World Test Championship final.
Had Ashwin not retired, he would have had to face a long layoff — because he is out of favor in white-ball international cricket — and only return in June for the five-Test tour of England. That being another overseas trip, playing-11 chances might have been rare, given India’s preference of choosing Jadeja over Ashwin for such matches due to his superior batting ability.
Now, the off-spinner will be seen in action in IPL 2025 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK)