Ace India all-rounder R Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket. Ashwin ended his career as an all-time great, with 765 wickets across formats, the second-highest from India after Anil Kumble and 11th-best overall. In Tests, he was a different beast, especially in home conditions where he was almost unplayable, not that he wasn't successful away from home. Ashwin took 537 wickets in the longest format, only second to Anil Kumble from India. He was more than just a bowler, but a fighter. He scored six Test hundreds for India, with almost every hundred coming when the team was in trouble. Ashwin also accounted for 37 five-wicket hauls in Tests, the joint second-best alongside Shane Warne.

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal lavished praise on R Ashwin and termed him the greatest bowler of the last decade. Ajmal said Ashwin and he had mutual respect for each other and called the India legend a great human being.

“Someone with 537 wickets in 106 Tests must be a great bowler but it is not only the record but the guile that made Ashwin a legendary bowler. We had a mutual respect for being the same style bowler. He used to admire me whenever I had success and when he had a good match I admired him. The best thing about Ashwin was that he used to always meet in a joyous mood. That made him a great human being. No matter how tense the India-Pakistan games were, we always had a laugh and shared some precious moments on and off the field.”

“To me, Ashwin is the greatest bowler in the last decade,” said Ajmal as quoted by ap7am.com.

Meanwhile, Ashwin played just one Test in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He wasn't picked in the XI for the Perth Test, but was called in for the second Test in Adelaide before being dropped again.

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