NEW DELHI: Ravindra Jadeja has expressed that he will deeply miss Ravichandran Ashwin, whom he regarded as an on-field mentor. Ashwin shocked the cricketing fraternity by announcing his retirement midway through the ongoing Test series against Australia, despite seemingly having more to offer to the game.
The 38-year-old leaves an indelible mark on Indian cricket, retiring as the country’s second-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 537 wickets in 106 matches, second only to Anil Kumble’s 619 scalps.
Ashwin and Jadeja formed one of the most successful spin duos in cricket history, playing 58 Tests together and taking a combined 587 wickets, surpassing the iconic pair of Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, who had 501 dismissals as a pair.
“He played with me like an on-field mentor,” Jadeja told the reporters at the MCG.
“Over the years, he played with me as a bowling partner. We kept passing messages to each other about the ground conditions, match situation and the plans against batters. I will miss all these things for sure,” the allrounder said.
While Ashwin and Jadeja have parted ways in Test cricket, fans will be thrilled to see the duo reunite for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025.
Ashwin also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties with the bat. His last international game was the day-night Test in Adelaide, where he took 1-53.
“This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level. I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to expose and probably showcase that in club level cricket, but this will be the last day. I’ve had a lot of fun,” Ashwin had said while announcing his retirement from international cricket.
“I must say I’ve created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates, even though I’ve lost some of them over the last few years. We are the last bunch of OGs, if you can say that, left out of the dressing room. I’d be marking this as my date of having played at this level,” said Ashwin in the post-match press conference.
