Ashwin quit because of humiliation: Father

Chennai: Ravichandran, father of veteran off-spinner Ashwin, said he was caught off guard by his son’s sudden retirement from international cricket but stunningly hinted that there could be underlying reasons for it including him feeling “humiliated”.

Ashwin dropped a bombshell on Wednesday when he announced his retirement from top-flight cricket at the end of the drawn third Test against Australia in Brisbane.

“I too came to know at the last minute. The way in which he gave that (retirement), there could be many reasons. Only Ashwin knows, maybe humiliation,” Ravichandran told CNN News18.

Washington Sundar was picked ahead of the seasoned off-spinner, owner of 537 Test wickets, for the first Test in Perth before getting a place in the eleven for the Pink Ball Test at Adelaide.

However, Ashwin was again benched for the third Test at the ‘Gabba’ as Ravindra Jadeja started in that match.

Ravichandran said the family was expecting Ashwin’s retirement for some time because “humiliation was going on”, though he didn’t reveal the exact nature of it. “The sudden change – retirement – gave us a shock. We were expecting it because humiliation was going on.

“How long he can tolerate all those things? Probably, he would have decided on his own,” he said.