A heavy sense of deja vu accompanied R Ashwin’s retirement from international cricket as it reminded the cricket fraternity of the days when MS Dhoni and Anil Kumble, just like the wily off-spinner, exited the scene abruptly in the middle of a series against Australia.

Dhoni retired from red-ball cricket in 2014, while Kumble stepped away in 2008. While Ashwin and Dhoni played their final Test Down Under, and called it quits on their own terms, Kumble, whose retirement was prompted by a finger injury, played his last match in New Delhi.