Ashwin bows out of internationals with shock retirement call

Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his immediate retirement for international cricket following the drawn third Test between Australia and India.

India's second most successful Test bowler of all-time fronted the post-match press conference at the Gabba with captain Rohit Sharma where he revealed it would be his "last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level".

"I do feel that there is a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer but I would like to showcase that in club level cricket," Ashwin said.

"I've had a lot of fun; I've created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates.

"Obviously there are a lot of people to thank but I would be failing in my duties if I didn't thank the BCCI and fellow teammates... Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara who have taken those splendid catches around the bat to give me the number of wickets I've managed to get over the years.

"Also a big thank you to the Australian cricket team who have been very fierce competitors, and I've enjoyed my time playing against them.

"It's truly a very emotional moment … it's a game that's given me everything."

The 38-year-old took 1-53 in India's defeat in the second Test in Adelaide after being left out of the series opener, but was overlooked for Ravindra Jadeja in Brisbane.

Ashwin's 537 Test wickets for 106 matches is second to only Anil Kumble (619) for India.

He made his Test debut against West Indies in Delhi in 2011 and finishes his career as the seventh most successful bowler in the format, while he also scored 3503 runs with six centuries.

Rohit said the champion off-spinner had been weighing up retirement since the Perth Test and he "was very sure" about the decision.

"When we came here, we were not sure about which spinner was going to play," Rohit said.

"We just wanted to assess and see what kind of conditions we get.

"When I arrived in Perth, this was a chat we had, and I somehow convinced him to stay for that pink-ball Test match.

"After (that match), it just happened that he felt if I'm not needed right now in the series, I'm better off saying goodbye to the game.

"He was very sure about what he wanted to do, and the team has complete backing of his thought process.

"Giving Ash that respect … and stand by what he is thinking, that is what I'm thinking right now – that's the kind of chat we've had and (with) Gautam Gambhir as well.

"It's important when a player like him, who's had so many moments with the Indian team and has truly been a big match winner for us, is allowed to make those decisions on his own, and if it was now, so be it.

"There's a bit of a gap now (until Boxing Day) for us as a team to regroup and collect our thoughts on this … and think about how we need to proceed further."

Ashwin also played 116 ODIs and 65 T20 internationals, collecting 228 white-ball wickets to finish with 765 international scalps.

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: India won by 295 runs

Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets

Third Test: Match drawn

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal