A stop-start game which still had plenty of action – there were almost as many wickets (7) as rain breaks (8) on Tuesday, not to mention two high-quality centuries and one all-time great fast bowler carrying his team on his shoulders – faded into the background. Something of a murder-mystery feel took hold. An India player was about to retire. We know how the story ended now but it is worth recounting how it unfolded.
There were three suspects. Each of them has carried their team to incredible heights. Each of them will be deeply missed. And as the tour has gone on, one of them especially has come under a fair bit of scrutiny. It actually started as a bit of a joke.
When he fell for 10 in Brisbane, his highest score of the series including the practice game in Canberra, he dropped his gloves by the boundary and disappeared down the tunnel. A day later, Sunil Gavaskar went on record to suggest that Rohit would step down as captain if his form does not improve.
Just before 2pm, Rohit took his time leaving the field when Australia declared their second innings. Some of his team-mates seemed to wait on him even though that kind of thing is usually reserved for people who had done well or if they knew something the rest of the world didn’t.
It was nice that he was with Kohli in the dressing room and with Rohit at the press conference where he pulled the veil off an evening of high intrigue. Kohli and Ashwin go all out against each other in the nets. It gets so good that people stop what they’re doing and just stare. They have a prosperous relationship as fielder and bowler as well. Kohli has forever been at midwicket for Ashwin against right-hand batters, denying them the chance to get off strike by playing the low-risk, with-the-turn flick and forcing them to be pulled apart by one of the most capable spin bowlers of all time. Like he’s never been short of ideas. The dead ends he hits usually end up with an Ashwin-shaped hole because he kept finding ways through them. He made it to a T20 World Cup years after India had ditched him for the unpredictability of wristspin.
Rohit sat beside Ashwin, looking down, lost to the world, until Ashwin started cracking jokes. “We are the last bunch of OGs.” Chuckle. “Thanks for being the journalists that you have been, writing good things and of course, writing nasty things on occasions.” Chuckle.
“I have played cricket with Ash since under 17,” Rohit said. “He was an opener batsman then. And then a few years later, we all disappeared. And then suddenly I am hearing news about Tamil Nadu, R Ashwin taking 5 wickets, 7 wickets. And I was wondering who this guy is. Because I played him as a batsman. And then suddenly he has turned out to be a bowler who is taking five wickets.”
“And then obviously at international cricket we met again. And then we had a long journey together since 2010. So it has been a long time playing together. We all know what he has done for this team. So I don’t need to repeat it again and again. But a true match-winner that India has ever seen.”
India have been in transition for a while. Ishant Sharma was the leader of their attack not that long ago. His loss is no longer felt. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were key members of the team’s success both at home and away. Their loss has not been felt all that often. Ashwin’s Test career began in 2011 and ended in 2024. It was the time India became the most dominant home team in the world. Better than the West Indies. Better than Australia.
“When you’ve played so much together and shared so many memories, and you see one by one these guys are not in the team you do feel their presence somewhere. But what can you do?” Rohit was answering a question about the players who were no longer there – like Rahane and Pujara – and this Ashwin news had been so heavy that it took Rohit a little bit of time to realise Rahane and Pujara are still active cricketers. “You’ll get me killed (laughs). I’m talking as if all three of them have retired.”
Ashwin had been thinking about this for a while, it seems. “Never took you seriously even when you shared this thought a few months back,” Aravind, one of his childhood friends posted on Instagram. Ashwin leaves for Chennai on Thursday. He will have a stand named after him at the ground he went to – and still goes to – as a fan. He will return to it as a Chennai Super King in April. He’s spoken recently about how he put too much of his time and energy into competing for his place in the team, about proving his critics wrong, about essentially letting his life be run by other people and how that experience made him realise that the only thing that mattered was his peace of mind. It is cool that he found it. His kutty story has had highs and lows. But it is nice that it also has a happy ending.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
