Ravichandran Ashwin announced a surprise retirement from international cricket on Wednesday. A bonafide great of the game (it is difficult to be anything but with over 500 Test wickets to one’s name), the outpouring of accolades for his career from all quarters reflected the esteem in which he has been held by the cricketing fraternity.

And yet, there remains a corner unexplored, a question unanswered – that may even have formed the basis for his outwardly sudden decision.

R Ashwin in overseas Tests – what’s the deal?

In home conditions is where Ashwin built his legacy. Alongside Ravindra Jadeja, they became the most potent pairing of their era, and one of the most dangerous of all time. In a remarkable achievement, Ashwin has never missed a home Test match since he made his debut in 2011. He was also a consistent feature in India’s XI for Tests in other Asian countries.

Read more: Don’t mourn R Ashwin’s retirement: his next innings promises to be even better

India have played 58 Tests outside India since Ashwin’s debut. He has played in 32 of them – just over 55 per cent. Of course, a few of these were missed due to injury but it raises the question; why didn’t he play more, and does it cast a shadow over his glittering career?

The answer to the first question is rather simple. Largely, India could afford to play only one spinner outside Asia and (once he emerged) that spot went to Jadeja for (a) his superior ability with the bat and (b) his similar ability with the ball.

All told, Ashwin and Jadeja both played in seven of these 58 matches – three in West Indies. In seven more, neither one played. Of the remaining 44, Jadeja played 19 and Ashwin 25, although four of these were before Jadeja’s debut and a few have been him deputising for the left-hander.

Put like this, it’s difficult to buy claims from certain corners of Ashwin being ‘humiliated’ by his non-selection away from home. What is true, though, is that these selections have been sporadic, and if not for Jadeja’s injury issues, Ashwin would probably have played even less.

On India’s current tour of Australia, he played in Adelaide – between warming the bench in Perth and Brisbane. Ashwin filled in for Jadeja in Centurion in December 2023, but didn’t play in Cape Town. Before that, he played both Tests in the West Indies.

It is difficult to blame India for not picking him, given the high-quality alternative. But there’s a lingering feeling of what-if for this side of Ashwin’s career as a Test cricketer.

His first tour outside the subcontinent was to Australia in 2011-12. It was a chastening experience, as India lost 4-0 and Ashwin picked up just nine wickets at 62 runs apiece.

In his next one, a tour of South Africa in December 2013, he sent down 42 wicketless overs across both innings in the first Test in Johannesburg. Jadeja replaced him in the following match and promptly took six wickets, including five of South Africa’s top six.

One wonders if these events in quick succession may have spooked Indian selectors, and disproportionately coloured their perception of Ashwin’s abilities in such conditions.

But as is characteristic of his career as a whole, he went back and worked on his game – and the results came.

His next tour of Australia in 2014-15 showed signs of improvement, with a return of 12 wickets in three matches. In 2018, Ashwin took 18 wickets in six matches in South Africa and England, averaging just under 32 – not shabby at all for a visiting spinner.

He played just a solitary match in that year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but made his mark – bowling a staggering 86.5 overs and conceding at under two an over as he slammed the brakes on Australia’s scoring and picked up six wickets to boot.

He’s also evolved with the times. Even in Test cricket, Ashwin mastered the art of bowling defensively, against batters increasingly influenced by short-form cricket.

You won’t see it in the averages of his last four tours, which read 53, 41, 15 and 60. But not on a single one of those has he conceded at over three runs an over – something that speaks to him recognising and implementing his role as a tweaker in these conditions, especially once India's pace attack improved dramatically.

Despite this gradual shift from a wicket-taker to a container, the overall record remains impressive. He’s sometimes gotten the most difficult of conditions overseas, but after a difficult start can claim to have outbowled opposition who are operating on home turf.

Rather unfairly, Ashwin has at times been derided as a home track bully. There is very little evidence to say he is ineffective overseas. In fact, as it stands today, he has a better bowling average outside Asia than his competitor in the Indian XI, Jadeja (33.33 to 35.28).

Paradoxically, his effectiveness in Asia has coloured the perception of him overseas. Ashwin is a champion at home, and his stellar record dwarfs anything he has done outside the subcontinent. 104 wickets is not a poor return at all – only four Asian spinners have taken more.

Ashwin was simply unfortunate to exist at the same time as another player who offered a little more elsewhere to make a trade-off worth it. It’s the same singular sin committed by several giants of the domestic game who couldn’t make it to the Indian team because of Ashwin.

Maybe we could have gotten the privilege of witnessing him accomplish even more than he has. But as far as affecting his legacy goes, the answer is a resounding no. If anything, the improvement and evolution he showed over a decade only enhances it.

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