A great era of Indian cricket came to an end on Wednesday (December 16) after Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket following the third Test match between India and Australia at Gabba. Ashwin was not in the playing XI and made the decision public in the post-match press conference with Indian captain Rohit Sharma beside him.

Ashwin's decision is valid from immediate effect, and the star spinner has ruled himself out of contention for the fourth and fifth Tests of the series at the MCG and SCG, respectively. Ashwin's international cricket career, which started in 2010, ends after a journey that lasted almost 15 years and saw him play 106 Test matches, 116 ODIs, and 65 T20Is for the national team.

537 - R Ashwin took 537 Test wickets in his career at an average of 24.00 and a strike rate of 50.73. He is India's second-highest wicket-taker in history and the 7th highest overall. Ashwin retires from the sport at the top of the list of bowlers with the most wickets in Test cricket among active players.

765- Ashwin's tally of 765 across all formats in international cricket is the second highest behind Anil Kumble and 11th best in history across the globe.

383 - With 383 wickets in 65 Tests, Ashwin holds the record for the most Test wickets in India by a bowler.

195 - Ashwin took 195 wickets in 41 World Test Championship (WTC) matches and is the highest wicket-taker in the competition's history. He holds the unique distinction of being the first to complete 100 scalps in the mega event.

37- Ashwin finished his Test career with 37 five-wicket hauls which is the joint-second most by any player alongside Shane Warne. Only Muttiah Muralitharan has more.

11- R Ashwin has the joint most Player of the Series Awards (POTS) in Test cricket history alongside Muralitharan. Both won the prize 11 times. Ashwin's most recent one came two months ago against Bangladesh.

50. 7 - Among the nine bowlers with the most Test wickets at home, R Ashwin has the best strike rate (50.7) beating Glenn Mcgrath (51.9).

24 - Among spinners with more than 200 Test wickets, no one has a better strike-rate (24). Ashwin is narrowly ahead of Ravindra Jadeja (24.05).

1 - R Ashwin is the only player in Test cricket history to take 500 wickets and score five or more centuries. He also became the first player to register 20 50+ scores and 30 five-wicket hauls.

4- R Ashwin took a five-wicket haul and scored a century in the same match four times. Only Ian Botham (5) achieved the feat more times. In the Bangladesh series earlier this year, Ashwin became the first player to register the unique double on the same ground twice. The Indian legend achieved the feat in his home city Chennai.

3 - Ashwin is one of three cricketers in history to have more than 500 wickets and score more than 3000 runs in Test cricket alongside Shane Warne and Stuart Broad

2 - Ashwin was part of the Indian team that won two ICC events under MS Dhoni's captaincy after being part of the squad that lifted the 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. Ashwin, Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Suresh Raina were the only common links between the two squads.

300 - Ashwin was the fastest player in the world to complete 250 and 300 Test wickets. He is also the fastest Indian to take 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, and 500 wickets.

38 - At the age of 38, Ashwin set the record for being the oldest Indian to take a five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

9 - R Ashwin's match figures of 9/128 against England in Dharamshala earlier this year was the best by a bowler on his 100th Test. He is the only player in history to take a five-wicket haul in an innings in both debut and 100th Test.

268 - R Ashwin has dismissed the most number of left-handers in Test cricket history with 268 dismissals.

65- Ashwin played all 65 Test matches India have played at home since his debut in 2011.

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