When Did Ravichandran Ashwin Decide To Retire? Contradictory Reports, Statements Lead To Confusion

Ravichandran Ashwin abruptly announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday, with two more Tests still left in the India vs Australia Border Gavaskar Trophy. Out of the three Tests so far, Ashwin, a veteran of 106 matches in the longest format, played only in Adelaide as the lone spinner. Washington Sundar was picked for the first Test in Perth as the lone spinner while Ravindra Jadeja was picked for the same role for the third Test in Brisbane. Ashwin's abrupt retirement has got speculations running about when he decided to call it a day at the international level. 

Several different versions of Ashwin's decision-making have only added to the confusion.   

Former India captain Virat Kohli, a long-time teammate of Ashwin, wrote in a post on X that he got to know on Wednesday that the spin great would retire. "I've played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you're retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me," he said. Hours before that post a video had gone viral on social media which had Kohli hugging Ashwin, possibly after getting to know that he will retire, showing the deep bond that the two share.  

While Kohli said he got to know on Wednesday that Ashwin would retire at the end of the third Test, he did not mention whether he had any inkling beforehand about the thought of retirement crossing Ashwin's mind at the start of the series.

At the post-match press conference, after Ashwin had announced his retirement, India captain Rohit Sharma was asked "when he got to know when with whatever conversations he's had" that such a decision was in the offing.  

Rohit replied: "I heard this when I came to Perth (venue of the first Test