'Ashwin was insulted' - Manoj Tiwary believes Ashwin was mistreated by team management

One of the all-time greats of Indian cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin, recently announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket. His decision was rather unforeseen though. A 14-year-long international career was brought to an end via an announcement post the third Test of the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The unexpected call prompted widespread discussions among the cricket fraternity. 

Former Indian cricketer, Manoj Tiwary, felt that the addition of relatively inexperienced spininers to the Indian setup, particularly in the home series against New Zealand, appeared borderline disrespectful.  

"Ashwin was insulted. See, players like Washington Sundar and Tanush Kotian - they are all quality spinners and have performed well in First-Class cricket. But when you have a player of Ashwin's calibre, what is the need for you to bring in Washington in the home series where Ashwin is there, Jadeja is there, and Kuldeep is there, and make him bowl more overs than Ashwin. Is that not an insult to Ashwin?" stated Tiwary, as quoted by India Today. 

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One day, he will definitely come out and he will share his experience: Tiwary

Speaking on the same topic, Tiwary felt that Ashwin was not backed and appreciated enough by the team management regardless of consistently delivering match-winning performances for the side.

"Will he just carry on, after giving so many match-winning performances? He will not come and say that because he is a nice guy. But one day, he will definitely come out and will share his experience. This is not the right process. They are also players, and they also need some patting on the back and dignity," added Tiwary.

It was not difficult to understand that Ashwin was falling out of contention during the BGT itself. He was not part of India's XI for the series opener as well as the third Test in Brisbane. This comes after one of the driest home series against the Kiwis where Ashwin looked unusually underwhelming with the ball. However, a retirement mid-series was something no one saw coming.