IND vs AUS: 'I had persuaded him to stay till the pink ball test', captain Rohit Sharma reveals about Ashwin's retirement

India's veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surprised everyone by suddenly retiring on Wednesday. He has retired from all three formats of the game. However, he will continue to play in domestic tournaments and IPL. Ashwin arrived at the press conference with captain Rohit Sharma. There, he announced his retirement. During this, Rohit revealed that he had asked R Ashwin to stay for the pink ball test. Ashwin decided to retire only after reaching the Australia tour. Ashwin, who played in the Adelaide Day Night Test, was not selected for the team for the Tests in Perth and Brisbane. Rohit revealed that Ashwin will leave the team and return home on December 19.

Rohit came to know about retirement on reaching Perth.

After Ashwin decided to retire, Rohit revealed that he came to know about Ashwin's decision when he reached Perth. The Indian captain revealed that Ashwin understands the team's plans and combination and hence he announced his retirement after the match in Brisbane. Rohit said, 'When I came to Perth, I heard about R Ashwin's retirement. I was not there for the first few days of the Test. Since then, this thing was on his mind. There are many things behind this.'

'Ashwin understands about the combination'

Rohit said, 'Ashwin himself will be able to answer this. He understands what kind of combination we are thinking about. Even when we came here, we were not sure which spinner was going to play. We just wanted to assess what kind of conditions we would play in. But yes, when I reached Perth, we talked and somehow convinced him to stay for the pink ball Test match. It happened because he felt that if I was not needed in the series right now, it would be better if I said goodbye to the game.'

'Ashwin is allowed to take the decision'

Rohit said, 'Keeping Ashwin in mind, if he thinks so, we should allow him to think that way. We all should support his decision. That's what I am thinking right now and Gautam Gambhir also has the same mindset. It is important that a player like him, who has had great moments with the team, is allowed to make such a decision.