The world was not quite ready for Ravichandran Ashwin to announce his retirement in the middle of a Test series last December. And, he was not ready to see his two former teammates - Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli - draw curtains on their Test careers in a space of just five days, especially with the crucial tour of England set to begin in just about a month's time.
Rohit announced his retirement on May 7 via social media. Kohli did the same on Monday on Instagram. The two significant developments came less than a fortnight before the scheduled selection meeting for the tour of England.
Speaking on his YouTube show 'Ash Ki Baat', the former India spinner said he had no idea that two retirement announcements would come in this fashion and reckoned that Jasprit Bumrah was the solution to the sudden and significant leadership vacuum in India's Test team.
"I didn't have an idea both [Rohit and Kohli] would retire together," Ashwin said. "This will be a testing time for Indian cricket, and I'll say this is truly now the beginning of the Gautam Gambhir era.
"The team that will tour England will be a completely new team, a transformed team where Bumrah will probably be the senior-most player. He is obviously one of the captaincy options; I think he deserves the captaincy, but the selectors will take a decision based on his physical capacity.
{{/usCountry}}"The team that will tour England will be a completely new team, a transformed team where Bumrah will probably be the senior-most player. He is obviously one of the captaincy options; I think he deserves the captaincy, but the selectors will take a decision based on his physical capacity.
{{/usCountry}}"Their retirements will definitely create a leadership vacuum. You can't buy experience, especially on tours like this. Virat's energy and Rohit's composure will be missed."
Ashwin's verdict is contrary to media reports, which have hinted over the last week that Shubman Gill is set to be named the next Test captain, despite Bumrah having served as the vice-captain in the Australia tour last season and also led the team to their only win in the series.
'Rohit should've played in England. Kohli had...'
Speaking of Rohit and Kohli's retirement timings, Ashwin strongly believed the two still had much to offer. He felt Rohit should have toured England, keeping captaincy in mind, before taking a call on his future, while Kohli still had a few more years left.
"There will be a sense of fulfilment, but I honestly feely Kohli definitely had one-two years of Test cricket left in him," Ashwin said. "Rohit, I felt would at least go on till the England Test series, because there's a leadership vacuum in the team.
"Tests has been the finest [format for India] in the last 10-12 years, but just for the sake of leadership, Rohit should've played till the England series, and if he'd performed, he could've carried on and given some more leadership."