Ravindra Jadeja has broken his silence on Ashwin’s retirement. The Indian team had reached Melbourne for a practice session before the Boxing Day Test. During this, Jadeja held a press conference and spoke his heart out. He called Ashwin his mentor.
India’s veteran spinner R Ashwin surprised everyone by suddenly retiring on the last day of the Gaba Test. No one was aware of his decision. So as soon as Ashwin told this, the whole team was shocked. Especially the players who have been playing with him for a long time got a big shock. Now his bowling partner Ravindra Jadeja has broken the silence on Ashwin’s retirement. He revealed that Ashwin, who has played together for about 10 years, did not even let him know about this.
What did Jadeja say on Ashwin’s retirement?
The fourth Test between India and Australia is to be played in Melbourne from 26 December. Before this match, Ravindra Jadeja held a press conference on Saturday, 21 December. During this, he talked about Ashwin’s retirement. Jadeja told that he came to know about Ashwin’s retirement just 5 minutes before the press conference. This surprised him a lot. He could not believe this. Jadeja said, ‘We spent the whole day together, yet he did not give me any hint about this. I came to know about his decision at the last moment. We all know how his mind works.’ He started laughing as soon as he said this.
Ravindra Jadeja called Ashwin his mentor and bowling partner. Jadeja said, ‘He played with me like an on-field mentor. We used to message each other about the field, conditions, match situation and plans against the batsmen. I will miss all these things. But now we have to move on from him. Hopefully we will get a good replacement for him as a spinner and all-rounder.’ Jadeja called Ashwin’s retirement a big opportunity for young players.
Performance of Ashwin and Jadeja together
Ashwin and Jadeja played 58 Test matches together. The duo took 587 wickets in these 58 Tests. During this time, they achieved the feat of taking 5 wickets in an innings 38 times. With both the players, the Indian team rarely lost at home. In their presence, India had to face defeat in only 6 Test matches at home, while together they defeated the opposing team in 35 matches.
