All is well in India cricket? Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma’s conflicting views on R Ashwin’s retirement spark confusion

Ravichandran Ashwin’s sudden retirement announcement on Wednesday has surprised many, including former cricketers like Harbhajan Singh and Sunil Gavaskar, considering India still have two matches left in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Australia. 

With the Sydney track for the last Test (from January 3) traditionally offering more help to spinners, Ashwin’s pre-mature exit in the middle of the series indicates all are not on the same page in the Indian cricket. 

From outside, it looks like a growing preference for Washington Sundar over veteran Ashwin could have forced the 38-year-old made up his mind for quite some time. Following Sundar’s good performance against New Zealand at home, the Tamil Nadu spinner got the nod in Perth ahead of Ashwin. 

Although Ashwin played in Adelaide, the off-spinner was dropped again in Brisbane. Upon his return to India on Thursday, Ashwin said, “It had been running in my head for a while but it was very instinctive. I felt it on day 4 and called it on day 5.”

What did Rohit, Virat say on Ashwin’s retirement? 

However, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s versions on Ashwin tell a different story. Moments after Ashwin’s retirement announcement, Rohit was asked about when did he got to know. 

“I heard this when I came to Perth (venue of the first Test). Obviously, I was not there for the first three or four days of the Test match. But this was in his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it. He understands what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking,” Rohit said.

“When I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had. I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink-ball Test match. It just happened so that he felt that ‘if I am not needed right now in the series, I am better off saying goodbye to the game’,” added the Indian captain. 

Former India captain Kohli too revealed that he got to know about Ashwin’s retirement on Wednesday only. “I’ve played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you’re retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me,” Kohli posted on X. 

Any decision in the Indian cricket team’s dressing room, especially one involving a player of Ashwin’s stature, requires maturity and should not to be made hastily. Combined with Rohit and Kohli’s versions, it clearly indicates that nothing is going right in the Indian dressing room.

Ashwin also contradicted Rohit on another decision. Following the off-spinner’s announcement, Rohit stated that Ashwin will be returning to India on Thursday. But to everyone’s surprise, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star boarded a flight back home on Wednesday itself.  

Ashwin’s retirement irks Gavaskar, Harbhajan