Indian pacer Ravichandran Ashwin has announced his retirement from international cricket with immediate effect, ending a career in which he claimed 765 wickets for his country across all formats.

Ashwin, 38, made the announcement after India's draw with Australia in the Brisbane Test, a game for which he was not selected.

He said, “This will be my last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at international level.

"I feel there's a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer, but I'd like to express that, show it in club-level cricket."

Ashwin is India's second highest wicket-taker with 537 scalps behind only Anil Kumble (619), while he claimed 156 ODI wickets and 72 in T20 Internationals.

The Chennai-born player also made 3,503 Tests, with six hundred and 14 half-centuries.

Ashwin, who is the seventh highest run-getter in men's Test cricket, added: “I've had a lot of fun.

“I have made a lot of memories with Rohit (Sharma) and some of my teammates, even though we have lost some of them (to retirement) over the last few years.

"We are the last group of OGs, we can say that. I will mark this as my date of playing at this level.

“Obviously there are a lot of people to thank, but I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't thank the BCCI and my teammates.

"Most importantly, Rohit, Virat (Kohli), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, who have taken some of the catches around the bat and given me the number of wickets I have managed to take over the years."

Ashwin could be usurped by Australia all-rounder Nathan Lyon in the list of Test bowlers until the end of the ongoing series, with the latter on 533 career wickets, four behind Ashwin's total.

Lyon are likely to add to that tally in the final two games in Melbourne (from December 26) and then in Sydney (from January 3).

Tributes pour in for retired Ashwin

Ashwin's current and former teammates, including Virat Kohli, paid tribute to the spinner on social media.

Rohit: I knew Ashwin was planning to retire

India captain Rohit Sharma said he had heard Ashwin was planning to retire but persuaded him to extend his career so he could play in the second pink-ball Test against Australia in Adelaide - a match in which the spinner took a wicket and scored 29 runs as the tourists suffered a 10-wicket defeat.

Ashwin was dropped from the series opener as India bowled out their hosts by 295 runs.

Rohit said of his teammate, “I somehow convinced him to stay for the (Adelaide Test).

"It just happened that if he felt he wasn't needed now in the series, it was better to say goodbye to the game.

"Some decisions are very personal and I don't think many questions should be asked or raised. If a player has (made) a choice, he must be given that choice.

"He was very sure of what he wanted to do and the team is fully supportive of his thought process.

“It's important that a player like him, who has had so many moments with the Indian team and has been a really big match-winner for us, is allowed to make those decisions himself.

"If it was now, so be it."