It was 30th December 2014. The third match of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, also known as BGT, played between Australia and India, had just finished. India had managed to save the Test. The skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had played a role in that. Then comes the presser, and out of the blue, the skipper drops the bomb that he's retiring from the format with immediate effect.

Cut to 10 years later, the third match of the BGT had just finished, and India had managed to save the Test. Then comes the presser, and the rumours which were floating from the morning are confirmed. A sudden retirement is announced, of one of the all-time greats of the game, Ravichandran Ashwin.

It would be hard to deny the sense of déjà vu; the suddenness of it did catch you off guard again. Maybe it was always around the corner, and we all should have been prepared for it, but it did hit hard, in fact, very hard. We all know everyone's time comes, everyone has to retire one day, but nothing prepares you for the moment that it actually happens, when a legend, a player whom you have adored for so long, says adieu to the sport.

A bit of a conundrum about where to start with praising as he has done incredible things with both bat and ball in his illustrious career. Let's start with the ball. The number of variations he mastered over time was something. Off-spin, slider, carrom ball, undercutter, to name some. The variations were always something that he was known for. He could do all this with immense control. Variations didn't end with deliveries; he had various actions in his career, trying to get every bit of advantage he could have in his battle against batters. Copying his actions was a thing, and if you have to give a shout-out to one, his blender action would be the one for me.

From the first Test wicket that he took by castling the stumps of Darren Bravo to the last one where he got the ghost dismissal of Mitchell Marsh, there have been some really terrific dismissals that stand out. Picking out one from a set of those would be really difficult, but there are two I can say were amongst the best. The first one would be from the Mumbai Test of England's tour of India in 2016 where he bowled that terrific carrom ball to dismiss Jonny Bairstow, and the second would be the terrific ball he bowled to Cook to get rid of him in the Edgbaston Test in 2018 in the first innings. In fact, he got him out in a similar fashion in both innings there, which was really special.

With the bat, too, he made so many memorable contributions. He was a plucky character who always tried his best with the bat. He was always up for the challenge. He ends up with 6 Test match hundreds in addition to his 537 wickets, which puts him amongst one of the best all-rounders that the Test game has seen as well. If you have to choose out two standouts from his batting exploits, I would choose the Sydney Test Blockathon, which helped India secure a draw in the last BGT series in Australia, which was a stepping stone to what happened in Gabba, and the second one would be a knock of 42* he played against Bangladesh in a tricky situation to help India win the game in Mirpur, where the side was down to 7 for 74 while chasing 145.

I have majorly talked about his red-ball exploits here, but that doesn't mean he didn't have a good white-ball career. He started off with the white ball in 2010 and got stronger throughout. He won the 2011 World Cup where he bowled a great spell against Australia and the 2013 Champions Trophy where he was the key bowler in the truncated finals. The balls to Kulasekara and Hashim Amla would always be in folklore. His exploits with the bat here were limited, but a special mention to his knock against NZ in 2014, which was key to India tying the game.

His limited-overs prowess can't really be summed up without mentioning how he has kept himself relevant throughout these many years, even with the white ball, where the off-spinners have found it tough to survive. He, with his plethora of variations and immense knowledge, was able to still be amongst the best. Even now, he would be easily amongst the best off-spinners in the circuit.

Him as a player was more than just about his exploits as a bowler or an all-rounder. It was also about his philosophies. The guy always fought for what he believed was right. His stand for the run-out at the non-striker's end was one such one. He stood for that and tried his best to remove the stigma around that very legit dismissal, which was well within the laws of the game. He always tried to find that extra inch that he could as a student of the game who knew the laws sometimes even more than the umpires themselves.

As far as his second innings of life are concerned, he already has a great path ahead of him. The opportunities are endless. He's already a very successful YouTuber. He can easily go into broadcasting. He would surely make a good analyst; his knowledge is immense. He would also have paths of coaching and mentoring open to him for sure. As his first innings draws to a close, it would be almost equally exciting to see which path he chooses, and no doubt whichever path he does choose in the end, he would be a success there.

In the end, I have only this much more to say. There's always a player who you grow up with as a fan. A player who starts his career almost when you started to follow the game. You see that player try to become better, eventually come into your team, and become one of the best in the world. That player was Ashwin for me. It has been an absolute pleasure to have been able to follow his career as a fan and see how someone who started as a T20 specialist at the beginning of his international career ended up as one of the best red-ball bowlers of this game. I don't think one article would be enough to reminisce all that the great has achieved in his international career. Can't praise him enough, can't talk him up enough. Farewell to a true, true legend!!