"That Would Have Hurt Him"- Former India Bowling Coach Explains Why Ravichandran Ashwin Retired Midway Through BGT

Ravichandran Ashwin retired from international cricket after the third Test against Australia in Brisbane. It was a call that surprised many including Indian skipper Rohit Sharma. He played the second Test in Adelaide and was not included in the XI for the remaining Test matches.

Ashwin was seen addressing the press conference with Rohit Sharma where he made a public announcement of his international retirement. The off-spinner retired with 537 international wickets making him the second-highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket after Anil Kumble (619).

Now former India bowling coach Bharat Arun in a conversation with former Indian batter Subramanian Badrinath tried to explain the reason why Ashwin retired from international cricket.

"In the very first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him. In the past, Ravindra Jadeja played ahead of Ashwin a lot in overseas tours but I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that. But I feel that this time around, he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order" said Bharat Arun.

Ravichandran Ashwin Finished With 537 Test Wickets

Bharat Arun further said that Ashwin would have continued to play Test cricket had he been included for the first two Tests and dropped after that. However, choosing Washington Sundar ahead of him might have forced the off-spinner to do so reckons the former bowling coach. Finally, it was Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja who played the Melbourne and Sydney Tests and yet India ended up losing the series.

"Jadeja was slightly ahead of Ashwin on batting, and he was a left-hander as well. I myself have, at times, personally explained to Ashwin the reason for picking Jadeja over him. Ashwin took it [the reasoning] very well, too. But here, after having played so much top-level cricket, the tour got off to a false start for him. I think he would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures," said Bharat Arun.

Ashwin struggled in the home Test series against New Zealand leading upto the Australia tour. He picked up just nine wickets in the series at an average of 41.22 and picked up just one wicket in his final Test in Adelaide.