‘One of India’s true match-winners, team looked up to him in crisis’

An emotional Rohit Sharma heaped praise on R Ashwin, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday. Rohit hailed Ashwin as ‘one of the true match-winners India has seen’ and added the team looked up to the all-rounder in times of crisis. Ashwin, he said, will fly home on Thursday.
Addressing the media after the Gabba Test, which ended in a draw leaving the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy level at 1-1, Ashwin, who made his Test debut in November 2011, said: “This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats. I do feel there’s a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I would like to expose and probably showcase that in club-level cricket, but this will be the last day.”
After the brief announcement, Ashwin left the room but not before hugging Rohit, who added he heard about Ashwin’s plan to retire after landing in Perth.
“I heard it first when I landed in Perth. There’s obviously lots of things that go into the process. He understands what the team is thinking, what combination we are thinking. We weren’t sure about which spinner was going to play. When I arrived in Perth, that was the chat we had,” the India captain said.
He added: I somehow convinced him to stay for (the) Adelaide (Test). He felt now that if I am not needed, it was better to go now. We should respect him; his decision. He was sure. When a player like him has had so many moments with the Indian team and been a great match-winner for us – he is allowed to make decisions.”
Rohit said Ashwin was a ‘very witty guy, funny guy’ and will miss him on the field. “Whenever we had crises, we looked up to Ash and he was there to deliver for us. He has been a great servant, he probably hasn’t left any stone unturned.”

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