Ashwin on retirement: 'My journey is completely mine'

India legend Ravichandran Ashwin says he has no regrets after he called time on his international career midway through the ongoing Australia v India Test series.

Ashwin announced his retirement from India duties after a 14-year career during which he took 765 international wickets and became the fourth-highest Test wicket-taker of all spinners in history.

The 38-year-old has walked away with the five-match series poised at 1-1 but claims he knew it was time to call it quits.

He told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast: "I've never been a person who holds onto things, I've never felt insecure in life.

"I always wanted to leave things behind as nonchalantly as I can, because I do not believe in people celebrating me. I don't believe in the attention we get sometimes in India.

"For me, the day I woke up and felt the creative side of me didn't have a future or direction, that would be the day I would give it up. I suddenly felt that creative side didn't have a lot of upsides to explore."

The love we give away is the only love we keep. pic.twitter.com/kfkGjGfNE7

— Ashwin (@ashwinravi99) December 18, 2024

Ashwin made his Test debut in November 2011 but reflects on India's home series defeat to England in 2012 as the making of him as an international player.

Kevin Pietersen made a famous 186 in one of England's two victories in Mumbai, an innings Ashwin has not forgotten.

He said: "Very early in my career, in the formative years, things on the technical side that went wrong put me on the path of excellence.

"In that particular series against KP and Alastair Cook, one of the finest batters I've bowled to, my alignments were so bad. My left leg was going so far out that I wasn't able to get my length right at all.

"I wanted to take on KP every single time after that. He's a wonderful batter but anyone that didn't have a really sound defence was someone I fancied.

"I'm very grateful for the series going that way because if it hadn't happened, I might not have set myself on the path to excel as a bowler."