Has spin-bowling legend Ravichandran Ashwin sent a message to modern-day great Virat Kohli announcing his retirement from international cricket after failures with the bat against the Australian national cricket team? Fans feel this way on social media.
On Thursday, October 23, former India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared a cryptic post on X.com, which fans linked to Virat Kohli as it came after his consecutive flop shows.
Virat Kohli was out on zero for the second time in a row
The great batsman of modern times, Virat Kohli could not perform well for the second consecutive match against the Australia National Cricket Team.
In the series opener at the Perth Stadium, Kohli was out for 0 while trying to play a drive outside the off-stump off Mitchell Starc and edged it to Cooper Connolly, who managed to take a brilliant catch.
Kohli was expected to make a comeback in the Adelaide ODI as he loves playing at that venue and has an exceptional record to his name. However, this did not happen and he once again became the victim of zero.
On the 5th ball of the 7th over, Xavier Bartlett bowled a length ball around the off-stump which slipped and hit Kohli on his pads as he was trying to play a flick shot.
The umpire immediately raised his finger and after a long conversation with Rohit Sharma, Kohli decided to walk off the field, welcoming the crowd near the boundary.
Kohli touched a historic low in his career as he was out for zero in the second ODI. This was the first time in his 304-match ODI career that Kohli was out for ducks in two consecutive matches. Earlier, he had been out for two consecutive ducks in a Test and T20I in Ahmedabad in 2021.
This latest flop show is Kohli’s 40th duck in international cricket. Among the top six batsmen, only Sanath Jayasuriya (50), Mahela Jayawardene (44), Chris Gayle (43) and Younis Khan (42) have had more ducks than the Indian great.
Additionally, being out for a duck in the Adelaide ODI has brought Kohli level with Ishant Sharma for the most number of dismissals by an Indian and the pair is behind only Zaheer Khan who has been out for a duck 43 times.
Just leave it – Ravichandran Ashwin
Team India eventually lost the 2nd ODI against Australia by 2 wickets at the Adelaide Oval and suffered a series defeat with one match remaining, which will be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Minutes after the match between India and Australia ended, Ravichandran Ashwin shared a cryptic post on an X with the Nike logo with “Just Leave It” written in tricolor colours.
Specifically, it was a term taken by Ravichandran Ashwin from shoe company Nike’s original trademark “Just Do It” – the tagline was coined at an advertising agency meeting in 1988.
Fans on social media speculated that Ravichandran Ashwin was targeting Kohli with his post and asking him to retire from cricket.
Here’s how fans reacted to Ravichandran Ashwin’s post:
Deep message for Kohli.pic.twitter.com/b8Twqp95Y1
-fame. (@TheSDELad) 23 October 2025
Kohli will not leave this.
– Identify me (@aryankitnain) 23 October 2025
Baked priceless chokli pic.twitter.com/peboQFvObr
– Jigsaw (@JIGSAWxCSK) 23 October 2025
just leave it ??
Hidden message for Kohli?
– Bhai Saheb (@Bhai_Saheb) 23 October 2025
This is an indication that Kohli will soon announce his retirement.
– Priyesh (@priyesssh_07) 23 October 2025
Is this a message for Virat to retire from cricket?
– Saffron Hawk (@SaffronHawk) 23 October 2025
There is no harm to Virat Kohli here
– Rahul (@meri_mrziii) 23 October 2025
This is a direct gesture towards Virat.
– Sanatani (@manegh27) 23 October 2025
Ashwin is giving signals to Kohli
– Peturam (@RatlamiSevv) 23 October 2025
Brother, you are forcing Kohli to retire.
– Pravin Kale (@pravinkale_) 23 October 2025
Also read: This cricket board put Virat Kohli at par with Sam Ayub!
