It was a Wednesday of speculations while the rains drenched the Gabba. Talk of a retirement hung in the air and once R. Ashwin made it clear that he is bowing out of the international game, all speculations instantaneously died.
Rohit Sharma had an inkling since the first Test at Perth. Facing the media after Ashwin left the press-conference hall, the Indian skipper said: “Some decisions are very personal and I don’t think too many questions should be asked. If a player has a choice, he has to be given that choice and somebody like Ashwin, who has been there for us for so many years, is allowed to make these kind of decisions and we as teammates have to respect it. He was very sure about what he wanted to do and the team completely backed his thought process.”
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Speaking about the genesis of this decision, Rohit elaborated: “I heard this when I came to Perth. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it. I am sure Ash will be able to answer that. But he understands what the team is thinking, he understands what kind of combinations we are thinking about and when we came here as well we were not sure about which spinner is going to play, we just wanted to assess and see what kind of conditions we get in front of us but yeah when I arrived in Perth, this was the chat we had. I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink-ball Test (at Adelaide), and then after, you know, it just happened that he felt that if ‘I am not needed right time to say goodbye to the game’. We should all stand by what he is thinking at this point in time. That is what I am thinking right now and this is the kind of chat we had, him, Gautam Gambhir and I.”
Asked about his personal memories specific to Ashwin, Rohit said: “I have played cricket with Ash since under-17. He was an opener then. And then a few years later, I am hearing news from Tamil Nadu that R. Ashwin is taking five wickets, seven wickets. And I was wondering who this guy is. I played him as a batter and then suddenly he turned out to be a bowler who’s taking five-for. Then obviously, in international cricket we met again and had a long journey together since 2010.”
Rohit turned effusive while describing Ashwin’s contribution to Indian cricket: “He is a true match winner that India has ever seen. Whenever there was a crisis, we looked at Ash and he was there to deliver for us. His record speaks for itself. He has been such a servant of Indian cricket and has not left any stone unturned.”
