'Humiliation....': R Ashwin's father makes explosive claim about his son's sudden retirement

R Ashwin's retirement from international cricket has surprised both his fans and his father, Ravichandran. Ravichandran believes his son should have continued to play for the Indian cricket team and expressed his dissatisfaction. He stated that the fear of being humiliated may have influenced Ashwin's choice to retire in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar series.

The 38-year-old veteran off-spinner, who has 537 wickets in 106 Tests and 3503 runs, announced his retirement from international cricket after India's third Test against Australia at The Gabba in Brisbane, which was drawn. Ashwin was left out of the playing XI in two of the three matches in Australia, and it is thought that the lack of a sure berth in the team influenced his decision to retire during the ongoing five-match Test series.

“I too came to know last minute, actually," Ravichandran told CNN News18. “What was going on in his mind I don’t know. He just announced. I too accepted it with full pleasure. I did not have any feeling at all for that. But the way he gave his retirement, one part I was very happy, another part not happy because he should have continued."

“(Retiring) is his (Ashwin’s) wish and desire, I cannot interfere in that, but the way in which he gave that, there could be many reasons. Only Ashwin knows, maybe humiliation," he added.

Rohit Sharma, India's captain, spoke to the media following Ashwin's retirement, revealing that the experienced cricketer has been mulling retirement since his arrival in Australia. Sharma also felt that Ashwin's chances of making the playing XI were restricted.

“Speaking about Ash, he was very very sure about this decision. I heard this when I came to Perth. Obviously, I was not there for the first three or four days of the Test match, but this was on his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it; I’m pretty sure, Ash, when he went in position, will be able to answer that,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference on Wednesday.

“He understands what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking of. When we came here as well, we were not sure about which spinner was 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 a chat we had, and I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink ball Test,” added Rohit.

Following the announcement of his retirement, Ashwin returned to Chennai on Thursday and received a heartfelt welcome.

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