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Chennai, Dec 19 (IANS) A day after retiring from international cricket, veteran India spin-bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin insisted that he called time on his international career but not retired as a cricketer, saying “don’t be surprised if I try and aspire to play for as long as can”.

Shortly after the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Brisbane ended in a draw at the Gabba on Wednesday, Ashwin announced in the post-match press conference his decision to retire from international cricket with immediate effect, ending a 14-year-long career of him playing for India across all formats.

Now, Ashiwn is set to return to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the upcoming IPL 2025 season. He was bought for Rs 9.75 crore at the mega auction last month.

Ashwin flew home to Chennai, with two Tests left in the ongoing series against Australia.

“I am going to play for CSK and don’t be surprised if I try and aspire to play for as long as can. I don’t think Ashwin the cricketer is done, I think Ashwin the Indian cricketer has probably called it time. That’s it,” Ashwin told reporters after arriving to his hometown on Thursday.

Speaking on his retirement call, Ashwin revealed that the decision was “instinctive” and he is feeling “sense of relief and satisfaction”.

“It’s emotional for a lot of people. It will be emotional, maybe it will sink in. But for me, it’s a great sense of relief and satisfaction…It had been running in my head for a while but it was very instinctive. I felt it on day 4 and called it on day 5,” he added.

Ashwin ends his career with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Tests and becoming India’s second-leading wicket-taker after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble. He also scored six Test centuries and 14 fifties with the bat. His last international game was the day-night Test in Adelaide, where he took 1-53.

The spin bowling all-rounder also played 116 ODIs for India, taking 156 wickets. Ashwin was a member of 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams. He also played 65 T20I matches and took 72 wickets.

The 38-year-old was named the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year and Men’s Test Cricketer of the Year in 2016. He was also named in the ICC Test Team of the Decade 2011-20.

–IANS

bc/ab

Brisbane, Dec 14 (IANS) Ravindra Jadeja and Akash Deep come in as India won the toss and elected to bowl first against Australia in third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test under overcast skies at the Gabba on Saturday. The five-match series is currently tied at 1-1.

This is the first time in this series that India have decided to bowl first after winning the toss. Both Jadeja and Akash will be playing their first game of the series after replacing Ravichandran Ashwin and Harshit Rana in the playing eleven.

“A little bit overcast. A bit of grass and looks soft, so want to make the best of conditions. We want to try to make the best use of the conditions and see what we can do with the ball up-front. Lot of cricket to be played, both teams have played good cricket in the last two games. Big game for us here, we will try and do what is expected out of us.”

“We’ll play good cricket, we understand we have to capture some moments, we didn’t do that in the previous game which is why we lost. It’s absolutely buzzing, the guys are looking forward to the match, we’re looking forward to coming out here and playing,” said India skipper Rohit Sharma, who will continue to bat at number six.

Australia had made just one change: Josh Hazlewood is fit after missing Adelaide Test due to side strain and he replaces Scott Boland in the playing eleven. “We would’ve bowled first too. Been a fantastic series so far. Really happy with last week, just about everyone got into the series, been a good lead-up. Preparations have been pretty good. Early finish in Adelaide allowed us to come up here early and get settled,” said Australia captain Pat Cummins.

Playing XIs

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep

Australia: Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood

–IANS

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