"That would certainly have hurt him" - Former coach makes massive statement on R Ashwin's retirement midway through BGT 2024-25

Former Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun believes Washington Sundar's selection in Perth forced Ravichandran Ashwin to retire midway through the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Ashwin made a stunning retirement announcement right after the drawn third Test in Brisbane, much to the surprise of cricket fans and experts worldwide.

The 38-year-old played only the second Test in Adelaide with Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja playing the first and third Tests. Ashwin endured a rare sub-par home series against New Zealand before the Australian tour, picking up only nine wickets at an average of 41.22.

However, his off-spinning successor, Sundar, was at his best in the New Zealand series with 16 wickets at an average of 14.12 in the two matches he played.

Speaking about Ashwin's retirement on former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath’s YouTube channel, Bharat Arun said [via Cricket.com]:

"In the very first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him. In the past, Ravindra Jadeja played ahead of Ashwin a lot in overseas tours but I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that. But I feel that this time around, he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order."

Incidentally, India went with two spinners, Sundar and Jadeja, in the playing XI for the final two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Yet, they ultimately suffered a 1-3 series defeat to surrender the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"He would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures" - Bharat Arun

Ashwin was left out immediately after the Adelaide outing [Source: Getty]

Bharat Arun feels Ravichandran Ashwin would have continued if he started as the primary spinner in Australia and was dropped after a couple of poor performances.

The champion off-spinner finished as India's second-leading wicket-taker overall (765) and in Tests (537), behind only Anil Kumble.

"Jadeja was slightly ahead of Ashwin on batting, and he was a left-hander as well. I myself have, at times, personally explained to Ashwin the reason for picking Jadeja over him. Ashwin took it [the reasoning] very well, too. But here, after having played so much top-level cricket, the tour got off to a false start for him. I think he would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures," said Bharat Arun.

He concluded:

"But they dropped him for the very first Test, then played him in a pink-ball Test, and then dropped him again for the third Test. After this sequence of events, Ashwin might have thought to himself that it’s best to move on."

Ashwin will continue playing club cricket and is likely to be in action for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025.