I would've sent him with a lot of respect, happiness: Kapil Dev on Ashwin's retirement

Ahmedabad, Dec 19 (IANS) Former India captain Kapil Dev expressed that he would not have wanted the ace Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin to retire from the game in such a manner. Instead, he would have preferred to bid him farewell with great respect and joy.

Ashwin surprised the cricketing world when he made the announcement of retiring from international cricket with immediate effect after India's third Test against Australia, a game he was not selected for, ended in a draw at the Gabba, Brisbane on Wednesday. His last international game was the 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.

"I feel the next generation has to be better than us. If not, the world is not going ahead. We never imagined somebody could come close to Sachin Tendulkar or Sunil Gavaskar. So you get the next generation come out, their strike rate, their way of playing is so unique. So you appreciate the next generation," Kapil Dev said at an event in Ahmedabad.

"Like Ashwin, you said he is gone. I wish if I were there, I wouldn't have let him go like that. I would have sent him with a lot of respect and happiness. Because when you leave something, when you love something, it's very tough. And we have to respect those people," the 1983 World Cup-winning captain added.

The 38-year-old, however, will be playing in the IPL 2025 for the Chennai Super Kings, who bought the ace off-spinner for Rs 9.75 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction last month.

Ashwin ended his 14-year international career with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests and became India’s second-leading wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble (619). He also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties. He also played 116 ODIs for India, taking 156 wickets, and 65 T20I matches, taking 72 wickets. Ashwin was a member of 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams.

In Tests, Ashwin was one of the biggest match winners in the Indian team’s 12-year-long home dominance and played a starring role in the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy win in Australia. Ashwin was one of the 11 all-rounders to clinch the double of 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Tests. He also won a record 11 Player-of-the-Series awards, which is level with Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan.

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