Ashwin’s sudden retirement and the spinoff

Ravichandran Ashwin’s sudden retirement from international cricket last week may have been a bombshell for Indian cricket, but it was waiting to happen. The rigmarole of being in the touring party every time but hardly finding a place in the playing XI became too much for Ashwin. When it was clear to him that he would not get a chance in the last two Tests in the ongoing tour of Australia, Ashwin, 38, decided that that was it for him — finishing his career with 765 international wickets from 287 matches.

His brave smile with a glum face betrayed every emotion as the torn heart within showed clearly.

The “humiliation” Ashwin faced in the team was the reason behind his sudden retirement, his father said, though the ace spinner was forced to make a clarification later. Ashwin’s somewhat forced retirement brings into focus “the last bunch of the OG (Old Guard) in the dressing room”, as he himself put it while bidding his final goodbye.

With Ashwin gone, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane out of the reckoning, and pacer Mohammed Shami uncertain with prolonged injury since the 2023 World Cup, the current Indian Test team is a relatively depleted side.

This was the bunch on whose back India once reigned at the top of the ICC Test team rankings for 42 months — their longest, since October 2016.

Virat Kohli’s two-year reign (2018-19) as the ICC No. 1 Test batter, ICC No. 1 batter in all three formats (2018), Ashwin’s rise to the top of the ICC Test bowlers’ ranking in 2015, Men’s Cricketer of the Year (2016), Jadeja’s reign as the No. 1 Test allrounder and bowler in 2017 — it all coincided with the team’s supremacy in Test cricket.

Those left behind in the dressing room are Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. Bumrah and Jadeja continue to hustle, but what about the strugglers?

Kohli averages 25.06 this year with scores of 20, 17, 6, 47, 29, 0, 70, 1, 17, 4, 1, 5, 100*, 7, 11, 3 in nine matches, clearly showing his struggle with the bat. The 36-year-old pivot of Indian batting has hit only one Test century this year — versus Australia at Perth on November 22 — and three in the past five years.

Captain Rohit Sharma averages 26.39 this year, with scores of 39, 16, 24, 39, 14, 13, 131, 19, 2, 55, 103, 6, 5, 23, 8, 2, 52, 0, 8, 18, 11, 3, 6, 10, DNB in 13 matches. The 37-year-old opener has just two Test centuries this year, and eight in the past six years.

Given the rough weather the Test team landed itself in after the whitewash at the hands of the Kiwis (0-2) at home (though winning the series against Bangladesh 2-0), India now need to avoid any further defeat in the five-match series and hope that Australia do not suffer a 0-2 series defeat in Sri Lanka. From being the frontrunners, the Rohit Sharma-led side is in jeopardy of failing to make the cut for the World Test Championship (WTC) final on June 11, 2025.

Kohli and Rohit’s relevance to India’s plans for the next cycle of the WTC (2025-2027) is already a hot topic among the fans on social media.

That, however, is still six months away as India begin the next cycle with the tour of England on July 2, 2025.

#Retire trended on X after Rohit and Kohli scored 91 and 93 runs, respectively, in the series against the Kiwis as India’s 18-series home winning streak ended.

Before the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former India pacer Karsan Ghavri felt, “If they don’t perform, it’s time for them to call time on their Test careers. If they don’t perform in Australia, Virat and Rohit should retire. They have done a lot for Indian cricket, but the team needs runs to win. We need to build a team for the future.”

That Kohli (22nd) and Rohit (26th) are out of the top-20 ICC Test batters’ rankings for the first time in 10 years is a sign of things to come.

In his podcast ‘Around the Wicket’, former Australian skipper Michael Clarke weighed in on whether the two star batters would retire or can be dropped. “If it’s their last time here in Australia, I think it will be retirement. They won’t be dropped, but in the same breath, I think every cricketer knows that if you’re not making runs or taking wickets, there will be conversations around that kind of thing. Being the captain of the team, you get slack for that, and if you’re the world’s best batter for the last 10 years — maybe longer — across formats, I think Virat may get a bit more slack than somebody else.”

After the drawn Brisbane Test, skipper Rohit Sharma admitted that runs have not come from his bat in the series the way it should be, but it is about his mind and the way he is moving, and “I am feeling good”.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said, “I think Rohit obviously will get the opportunity to play in the next couple of matches, that’s for sure. But maybe at the end of it, if he hasn’t scored runs, my feeling is that he himself will take the call on his captaincy.”

Kohli has not disclosed his state of mind but with an unbeaten century under his belt in the series opener at Perth, retirement may not be anywhere in his thoughts.

Kohli and Rohit may retire or resurrect their fortunes, but it is for the team management to see whether they want to go into the next cycle with the same set of players or start afresh.