Virat Kohli led the tributes to India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin who today called time on an illustrious 14-year Test career.
The 38-year-old, who took 537 wickets from 106 Tests to finish as the seventh-highest wicket-taker in Test history, announced his retirement following the drawn third Test against Australia in Brisbane.
Kohli captained Ashwin for much of his International career and labelled his teammate a ‘legend of Indian cricket’ in an emotional tribute on ‘X’.
Kohli said: “I’ve enjoyed every bit of the journey with you ash, your skill and match winning contributions to Indian cricket are second to none and you will always and always be remembered as a legend of Indian cricket.
“I’ve played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you’re retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me.”
Former Indian coach, Test allrounder and now broadcaster Ravi Shashtri added his accolades to a lengthy list on ‘X’.
“Hey Ash, congratulations on a magnificent career, old boy. You were an invaluable asset during my tenure as coach and enriched the game immensely with your skill and craft.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins said Ashwin will “go down as one of the all-time greats”.
“He's obviously been a fantastic player all around the world,” Cummins said.
“There aren't that many finger spinners that have that kind of longevity. There's a massive respect from our changing room for the career that he's had.”
Ashwin is second only to Anil Kumble (619 wickets) in the list of India’s Test wicket takers, and also scored 3503 Test runs with six centuries and 14 fifties, making him one of a select band of 11 allrounders with more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets.
His tally of 37 five-wicket hauls is second only to Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan and England’s management team will probably be relieved to hear of his retirement given he was the leading wicket-taker in India's past three series against England, including 24 in the 4-1 home triumph this year.
