'Say goodbye instead of waiting' - Former India batter Navjot Singh Sidhu opens up on Ravichandran Ashwin's 'retirement' decision

Just within almost 24-26 hours, the legendary Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is now the ‘Former Indian great’. It all happened after a shocking ‘retirement announcement’ made by Ashwin immediately after the third Test between Australia and India in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.

In the post-match press conference after the ‘drawn Gabba Test’, Ashwin came turned up to address the journalists, alongside his skipperRohit Sharma. After this unexpected decision from one of India’s all-time greats, a lot of opinions are pouring out in the cricketing fraternity, be it from the former cricketers, cricket experts or fans.

In the same line of events, former Indian cricketer turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu also expressed his views on the Indian veteran’s decision to retire at the top of his career.

“Ashwin had a lot of years left in him, if he wanted, he could’ve played a bit more. But when a cricketer signs off and people talk about it like ‘why he has gone’, it is the best position to say goodbye instead of waiting till people want you to go,” said Ashwin in a video shared on Instagram.

Here’s what Sidhu said about Ravichandran Ashwin:

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Notably, Ashwin himself has made it very clear that the international retirement is not the end of ‘Ashwin the cricketer’, it’s just the end of ‘Ashwin, the Indian cricketer.’ While speaking to journalists outside his residence back home in Chennai, the 38-year-old also spoke about his plans in cricket. 

“I'm going to play for CSK, and don't be surprised if I aspire to play as long as I can,” said Ashwin to journalists.

“I don't think Ashwin the cricketer is done, Ashwin the Indian cricketer has called it a time, that's it,” he added later.

Notably, CSK has been a home team for him in the Indian Premier League, the local boy started his IPL career for Chennai 15 years back in IPL 2009. Later, he played for various franchises before returning to CSK for the upcoming edition of the tournament in 2025. Ashwin was picked by the five-time IPL champions for an amount of INR 9.75 crores in the IPL 2025 mega auction.