R Ashwin opens up on his retirement; dismisses claim that Gautam Gambhir forced him to hang his boots

Ravichandran Ashwin has talked about his international retirement which came in December 2024. Following the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25 at Gabba, Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket and following this incident, there were claims on social media that India head coach Gautam Gambhir forced the veteran to hang up his boots. Following this news, netizens started targeting Gambhir for having his own way to run the team. After Ashwin’s retirement, India played two more Tests in the series and registered a 1-3 defeat.

After 10 months of his retirement, Ashwin has dismissed assertions regarding Gambhir’s role in his retirement. Ashwin said Gautam Gambhir, alongside Rohit Sharma, advised the spin wizard to

reconsider his decision. "No one told me that you should go, no one told me that there is no place for you in the team. Actually before I took the decision 2-3 people told me not to take it but I took my decision. In fact, they wanted me to play more. Rohit Sharma also told me to think about it, Gauti bhai also told me to think again. But I didn't talk much about it with Ajit Agarkar. The decision is very personal when it comes to retirement. These are all very individual decisions," remarked Ashwin on his Youtube channel Ash Ki Baat.

Ravichandran Ashwin’s Test records for India

Ravichandran Ashwin made his Test debut in 2011 and serving India for 13 years in the format, he bagged 537 wickets in 200 innings of 106 matches. In 2021, when India beat Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020/21, Ashwin was a vital member of the side. In the famous series win, he chipped in with 12 wickets in six innings of three matches.

This year, Ashwin was seen in CSK colours but looked ineffective. He retired from IPL in August to explore opportunities in foreign T20 leagues. Last month, he was signed up by Sydney Thunder for the BBL 2025/26 season.