Ashwin triggers a sense of deja vu

Brisbane: A heavy sense of deja vu accompanied R Ashwin’s retirement from interna-tional cricket as it reminded the fraternity of the days when MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble, just like the wily off-spinner, exited the scene abruptly in the middle of a series against Australia.

Dhoni retired from red-ball cricket in 2014, while Kumble stepped away from the game in 2008. While Ashwin and Dhoni played their final Test Down Un-der, and called it quits on their own terms, Kumble, whose retirement was prompted by a finger injury, played his last match in New Delhi. Dhoni an-nounced his sudden retirement from Test cricket in December 2014, right in the middle of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, with India trailing 0-2 in the four-match series.

However, when Kumble stepped away after the third Test in Delhi, India were leading the four-match rubber 1-0 and eventually clinched the series 2-0 at home. While Kumble and Dhoni are former India captains, Ashwin never led the national team but his retirement leaves a massive void in the spin-bowling department.