Indian pacer Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, bringing an end to a career in which he took 765 wickets for his country across formats.
Ashwin, 38, made the announcement after India’s draw with Australia in the Brisbane Test, a match for which he was not selected.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at international level,” he said.
“I feel there is a bit of strength in me as a cricketer, but I would like to express that, show that in cricket at club level.”
Ashwin is India’s second highest Test wicket-taker, with 537 scalps behind only Anil Kumble (619), while he has taken 156 one-day international wickets and 72 in T20 internationals.
The Chennai-born player has also notched 3,503 Test runs, with six hundred and 14 half-centuries.
“I had a lot of fun,” added Ashwin, who is the seventh highest-paid bowler in men’s Test cricket.
“I made a lot of memories with Rohit [Sharma] And many of my teammates, although we lost some [to retirements] Over the past few years.
“We’re the last group of OGs, we can say that. I’ll mark this as the date I played at this level.
“There are obviously a lot of people to thank, but I would be failing in my duties if I did not thank the BCCI and my teammates.
“Most importantly, Rohit, Virat [Kohli]Ajinkya [Rahane], [Cheteshwar] Pujara, who took some catches around the bat and gave me the number of wickets I have managed to get over the years.”
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