R Ashwin's father, Ravichandran, revealed that the off-spinner's retirement decision came as a surprise to many in their family, adding that he wanted his son to continue playing for the senior national team. Ravichandran alleged that his son was being humiliated, which he suggested could have been one of the reasons for Ashwin's sudden retirement from international cricket.
Ashwin reitred from international cricket midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The off-spinner announced his decision, minutes after the third Test between India and Australia ended in Brisbane on Wednesday, December 18. Ashwin reached Chennai as early as Thursday morning.“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.
When asked if the family was emotional when Ashwin dropped the bombshell on Wednesday, Ashwin's father said: "No doubt about it (emotional moment for the family) because he was on the field for 14-15 years. The sudden change, retirement, gave us really kind of a shock.
"At the same time, we were expecting that also because humiliation was going on. How long he can just tolerate all those things? Probably, he would have decided on his own," he added. Ashwin's father has been a pillar of support in the off-spinner's career. A fast bowler at club-level cricket, Ravichandran encouraged his son to take up the sport. Ashwin's father backed him when the Tamil Nadu cricketer made the switch from a batter to an off-spinner in a bid to break into the state's Ranji Trophy team as a teenager.
India captain Rohit Sharma, speaking to the media after Ashwin’s retirement, revealed that the senior cricketer had been contemplating retirement ever since arriving in Australia. He also indicated that chances of playing XI were going to be few and far between for Ashwin.“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.
