Did Ashwin’s poor form and Gautam Gambhir’s call on Washington Sundar trigger spinner’s retirement?

Ravichandran Ashwin was reportedly mulling retirement from international cricket even before the IND vs AUS Test series. The Tamil Nadu spinners took the world by surprise after announcing his retirement following IND vs AUS 3rd Test in Brisbane. Now, reports have come to light which suggest that apart from his form, head coach Gautam Gambhir’s plans also triggered Ashwin to take a call on his career.

Did Gambhir’s harsh call force Ashwin into retirement?

As per a PTI report, Ashwin was mulling retirement after his disappointing performance in IND vs NZ Test series at home where India lost 0-3. The Tamil Nadu spinner had managed to take only nine wickets and was way behind fellow TN spinner Washington Sundar. The report claims that Ashwin had clearly told the team management that he was unwilling to travel to Australia for Border-Gavaskar Trophy if he was going to be benched.

However, the report claims that the decision to bench Ashwin in the 1st Test in Perth and replace him with Sundar was taken by Gautam Gambhir. The report added that the team management had believed that Sundar and Jadeja would be two front-line spinners for the 5th Test in Sydney and not Ashwin. This, the report claimed, had forced Ashwin to reconsider retirement.

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“There was no nudge from the selection committee. Ashwin is a legend in Indian cricket, and he has the right to take his own call,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

A career that started in 2010, Ashwin saw many ups — along with winning the 2011 World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy, and two-time finalist of the World Test Championships. It must be admitted that R Ashwin proved to be the most effective in Test matches, where he not only won numerous matches for India with ball, but with the bat as well.