The previous spinner of England, Monty Panesar, has suggested that BCCI should have set up a farewell Test for the batting legends Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and off-spin wizard Ravichandran Ashwin, because the three players had done enough for the game to be given a much better ending. Panesar remarked that India was the one who lost the chance to honor its retiring greats in the same way as the England’s recognition of players. He pointed out that England made it a point to ensure legends like Stuart Broad and James Anderson had a delightful farewell Test. “The BCCI should have planned farewell Test matches for R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli. They deserved that respect. England celebrates its players when they retire — e.g., Stuart Broad and James Anderson were given great farewells — but India fall short in this regard,” Panesar told IANS.
Kohli and Rohit were out of Test cricket in May last year, and Ashwin declared his retirement from international cricket following the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia in December 2024.
Kohli, who is considered one of the modern-day legends, completed his 14-year career with 9230 runs in 123 matches at a very good average of 46.85 with 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries. He quit as the fourth most successful Test captain overall, behind Graeme Smith (53 wins), Ricky Ponting (48 wins), and Steve Waugh (41 wins).
Rohit has accumulated a total of 4,301 runs through 67 Tests at an average of 40.57, which included 12 centuries and 18 fifties. The batsman averaged a splendid 42.81 in 66 innings as an opener in Tests, including hitting nine centuries and eight fifties. Besides, he was the captain who led India to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023, where they lost to Australia at The Oval.
Ravichandran Ashwin concluded his international career with 537 wickets at a remarkable average of 24 in 106 Tests, thus becoming India’s second leading wicket-taker after the great leg-spinner Anil Kumble. Besides his bowling, he contributed to the team’s score by hitting six Test centuries and 14 fifties. The last international match of his career was the day-night Test at Adelaide, where he picked up 1-53.
Within the white-ball format, Ashwin played a total of 181 matches and took 228 wickets. He was part of 116 ODIs and grabbed 156 wickets at an average of 33.20, with best figures of 4/25. Additionally, he scored 707 runs at an average of 16.44, with one fifty, a knock of 65 in 63 innings. He ranks as the 13th leading wicket-taker in ODIs for India.
He was featured in 65 T20Is, where he got 72 wickets at an average of 23.22. His best performance ever is 4/8. In his T20 career, he also scored 184 runs in 19 innings at an average of 26.28, with a highest score of 31. He stands as the sixth-highest wicket-taker for India in T20Is.
With a total of 765 scalps in 287 matches, he is India’s second-highest wicket-taker across all formats after Kumble (953). He also celebrated the 2011 50-Over World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy triumphs along with the Indian squad.