Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has lauded recently retired Ravichandran Ashwin’s impact on the game, saying the veteran spinner has always stood out for his amazingly sharp cricketing mind. Ashwin, 38, announced his sudden retirement from international cricket with immediate effect after India’s third Test against Australia, a game for which he was not selected, ended in a draw at the Gabba in Brisbane. Ashwin finished his 14-year international career with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests to become India’s second leading wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble. He also took an incredible 37 five-wicket hauls in Tests, the second-highest in the history of the game, along with eight ten-wicket hauls.
“Well, I must admit that I am very surprised to hear that Ravi Ashwin has retired. I mean he was such a fantastic stalwart of Indian cricket. His results at home are outstanding. His results on the road are just as good.”
“He will go down in history as one of the greatest bowlers of all time, one of the greatest Indian cricketers. I had the pleasure of playing against him a little bit and I had the pleasure of coaching him at Delhi Capitals. He has one of the sharpest cricket brains you will ever come across,” Ponting said in a video posted by the ICC on its Instagram account.
Ashwin also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties with the bat in the longer format. His last international game was a day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide, where he took 1–53 in his 18 overs and made 29 runs with the bat as India lost by ten wickets.
Ashwin also played 116 ODIs for India, taking 156 wickets and being a member of the 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams. Ashwin also played 65 T20I matches and took 72 wickets.
“No matter how he looks at the batters, how he smashes them and knows that he is almost like Shane Warne, staying one step ahead of what the batsman was going to do, that’s why he is such a great bowler. His longevity in bowling is amazing,” Ponting added.
Ashwin was one of 11 all-rounders to score doubles of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. He also won a record 11 Player of the Series awards, matching Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan. He will be seen playing for five-time champions Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2025.
“He will still be playing in the IPL and I will be coaching against him again this year. But it’s a fantastic career that I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of and I’m sure we’ll see many more.” wickets and other highlights from Ravi Ashwin throughout his career,” concluded Ponting.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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