NEW DELHI: As one of cricket's most renowned spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin, shocked fans and experts with his abrupt departure from international cricket, former Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif lavished praise on India's star for his tactical skills and keen cricketing mind, claiming that the 38-year-old has the potential to "take over the BCCI and ICC in future".
After the Gabba Test concluded in a draw on Wednesday, Ashwin ended his illustrious career, leaving a lasting legacy as one of India's greatest match-winners. In the day-night Test match against Australia in Adelaide, which was his final international match, he scored 29 runs with the bat and took 1-53 in his 18 overs.
"Ashwin, as a cricketer, maybe he hasn't received the respect he deserves in the dressing room; I don't know about it. He's wondering if he'll be in the playing XI or not. He's the world's No. 3 bowler, and taking 537 wickets for India is a huge achievement," Rashid told IANS.
"Perhaps he feels that his career might be nearing its end, especially when players like Washington Sundar are getting preference, so he might be deciding whether he'll play in the Sydney Test or not, whether he'll play in Melbourne or not. At some point, a person reaches a boiling point. I've been there myself many times," he added.
Ashwin became India's second-leading wicket-taker after the great leg-spinner Anil Kumble (619), after his 14-year international career with 537 wickets at an average of 24 in 106 Test matches. In addition, he hit 14 fifties and six Test hundreds and took 156 wickets in 116 One-Day Internationals and 72 wickets in 65 Twenty20 Internationals for India. He was a part of the sides that won the Champions Trophy in 2013 and the ODI World Cup in 2011.
"But as a cricketer, as a genius of the game, there are many cricketers in India, but Ashwin is on a different level. His qualities are of a different level. I believe that in the future, he could take over BCCI or ICC as he's that capable. He is very humble, and you wouldn't even realise that he's such a big cricketer. Best wishes to him from my side, from Pakistan.
"He's had an outstanding career. Look at him; as a batter, Ashwin has six centuries, which Dhoni probably doesn't even have," the 56-year-old opined.
India's 12-year home supremacy and their 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy victory in Australia were both greatly aided by Ashwin. He shares the record for 11 Player-of-the-Series accolades with the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and is one of only 11 all-rounders with 3000 Test runs and 300 wickets.
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