Former India captain and head coach Ravi Shastri has termed Ravichandran Ashwin a “special player”.

Ashwin called time on his International career at the end of the Gabba Test.

“I think what stands out for me was his wanting to evolve all the time,” Shastri said in the latest episode of The ICC Review. “He wasn’t the kind of guy satisfied as to where he started.”

Ashwin was known for his penchant to develop his game, always working on new deliveries.

“He wanted new tricks to be learned. He pursued it, practiced hard at it and continued to look for new things as his career progressed, to keep up with the times,” Shastri said.

Ashwin was the second-most successful India bowler in international cricket with 765 wickets (537 of those in Tests), standing only behind Anil Kumble (953).

“His legacy will be of being a terrific match-winner, a fabulous record, 537 sticks. I mean anyone over 500 (in Test cricket) is special,” Shastri noted.

He also marked out Ashwin’s improved numbers this decade, with the bowler picking up 175 Test scalps at an average of 21.18 (better than his career average of 24).

“And for him to do it in his span and the way he has done it, especially when it came to bowling in the last four or five years, I think in India, along with (Ravindra) Jadeja, I think they were a terrific pair, the real spin twins,” Shastri said.

“They complemented each other well and they spurred each other on you know so I would say a lot of Jadeja’s wickets in the last, you know five-six years, have come because of Ashwin and vice-versa,” Shastri added.

“For me it was his guile, wanting to excel in his craft and (especially) in the last two-three years the way he got the ball to give it a rip and got it to dip on the batsman with drift made him stand out,” Shastri said.

Kohli’s tribute

Ashwin has told Virat Kohli in a short note on X that he would be part of the team in spirit.

“I will be walking out with you to bat at the MCG,” Ashwin told Kohli on Friday.

Ashwin was thanking his teammate of 14 years for his stirring tribute to the off-spinner a day earlier.

“I’ve played with you for 14 years and when you told me today you’re retiring, it made me a bit emotional and the flashbacks of all those years playing together came to me. I’ve enjoyed every bit of the journey with you ash...,” Kohli wrote. Written with PTI inputs