'Stayed quiet to keep the privacy of dressing room'

"Mere cricket mein dum tha. I could have played a bit more, but it is always better to finish when people ask you, why and not why not."

- HT Correspondent

MUMBAI:

Those words from India's second-highest Test wicket-taker (537 wickets in 106 Tests) Ravichandran Ashwin will linger as the post-mortem of India losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy continues.

Ashwin, 38, who returned home in the middle of the series after not being picked for the third Test in Brisbane, shared his thoughts on his YouTube channel.

"I needed this break. I left the series midway. I did not talk much about cricket, though I did post a few things on X after the Sydney and Melbourne Tests. I did not talk about retirement because it was very important for me to respect the sanctum of the dressing room. The fan war is very toxic nowadays," Ashwin said.