"If I'm Not Needed...": R Ashwin's Blunt 'Retirement' Chat With Rohit Sharma Revealed

Indian cricket team spinner R Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket following the third Test encounter against Australia in Brisbane on Wednesday. Ashwin made the announcement in the post-match press conference along with skipper Rohit Sharma. While Ashwin did not take any further questions after the announcement, Rohit said that he was clearly at a loss of words following the announcement and called him one of the biggest "match-winners" the country has ever produced.  "Speaking about Ash, he was very very sure about this decision. I heard this when I came to Perth. Obviously, I was not there for the first three or four days of the Test match, but this was on his mind since then. There are obviously a lot of things that went behind it; I'm pretty sure, Ash, when he went in position, will be able to answer that," Rohit told reporters at the post-match press conference.

"He understands what the team is thinking. He understands what kind of combinations we are thinking of. When we came here as well, we were not sure about which spinner was going to play. We just wanted to assess and see what kind of conditions we get in front of us, But yeah, when I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had, and I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink ball Test," he added.

"It just happened so that if you know where he felt that, 'if I'm not needed right now in the series, I'm better off. Saying goodbye to the game, but obviously, we've not been to Melbourne yet, so we don't know what sort of conditions we expect there and what sort of combination, but just keeping Ash in particularly in mind, giving him that respect that this if this is what he thinks, we should allow him to think that way and we should all stand