‘Thanks for not running me out’ – Aaron Finch congratulates Ravichandran Ashwin on retirement, remembers iconic ‘Mankading’ incident

Former legendary Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin left the entire cricketing fraternity in shock with an unexpected ‘retirement announcement’ after the conclusion of the third Test between Australia and India at the Gabba in Brisbane. Just after his announcement in the post-match press conference, the entire cricketing fraternity, including the former cricketers, experts and the fans took to social media to remember the heroics of one of the greatest cricketers ever played for India.

In the same line of events, former Australia skipper and an explosive batter of his era, Aaron Finch also joined the bandwagon to congratulate Ashwin on his retirement.

Finch opted for a creative and unique way to congratulate the former Indian great by remembering a ‘Mankading’ incident almost five years back from IPL 2020. The former Aussie skipper also shared a picture of that moment when Ashwin left him with a warning for leaving the non-striker’s end before the ball in an IPL match.

“Congratulations Ravi Ashwin, you’ve been one of the greats and it was a pleasure to play with and against you!” wrote Finch in his X-post while congratulating Ashwin for his great career.

“PS: Thanks for not running me out this day,” added Finch with a picture of that ‘Mankading’ moment.

Here’s a look at Aaron Finch’s tweet for Ravichandran Ashwin:

Congratulations @ashwinravi99
You’ve been one of the greats and it was a pleasure to play with and against you! pic.twitter.com/2Yoany79hC

— Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) December 18, 2024

Notably, Ravichandran Ashwin came to the post-match press conference, alongside Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to make his ‘retirement announcement’ public. It was also an emotional moment for the Indian great. 

“I really didn’t want to make this about myself. Honestly, I think it would have been better if (Jasprit) Bumrah was here or Akash Deep was here. But Rohit (Sharma) is unfortunate to have me along his side. I am not going to take too much of your time. This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level. I do feel there is 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,” said Ashwin to journalists while announcing his retirement.