Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed the reasoning behind his surprising decision to retire from international cricket midway through the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The explosive all-rounder stunned the cricket world when he called time on his international career following the third Test at the Gabba.

In a candid chat with Michael Hussey on the Mike Testing 1, 2, 3' podcast, Ashwin shared that his original plan was to bow out after the second Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, where he blazed a century and took a six-wicket haul, but he postponed his plan due to being in great form. 

“To be very honest, I wanted to do it after my 100th Test. And then I thought, Ok, let me give it a go in the home season. Because, I mean, you're playing well, and you're getting wickets, you're making runs," Ashwin told Michael Hussey, who is also CSK's batting coach.

”I thought it does make sense to play a bit. I was having a lot of fun, but the whole hard yards that I had to put through to put myself in the park again, physically and mentally, one of the most important things that was pulling me down was the family time," Ashwin said.

"I thought I'd probably close off with the Chennai Test here. I ended up getting a six-wicket haul and a hundred. So it's very tough to quit when you're doing very well. So, I went on with the series, and we lost against New Zealand. So, one after the other, it was just building up. And then I thought, okay, let me go to Australia. Let me see how this goes. Because the last time I was in Australia, I had a great, great tour," Ashwin stated.

"And when I didn't start in Perth, it was like, okay, this whole circle keeps going again. People add very little value to what you're going through emotionally. They don't really consider that because your emotions are yours, and it doesn't matter to anybody else. So I had been contemplating that, and then I thought, okay, maybe it is time," added Ashwin.

Currently, R Ashwin is participating in the Indian Premier League, playing for Chennai Super Kings.