New Delhi | India’s ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin surprised everyone as he disclosed that back in 2018 he mulled over calling it a day to cricket. This happened just after the England series in 2018. The seasoned spinner has not only been a fulcrum of the Indian bowling but has also played some significant and match winning innings to rescue the side to come out of hazardous positions during a game.
“Between 2018 and 2020, I contemplated giving up the sport at various points. I thought I have put in a lot of effort, but it is not coming through. The harder I tried, the farther it felt. Especially with athletic pubalgia and the patellar tendonitis - I used to bowl six balls and then I used to be gasping for breath. And there would be pain all over the place. So you needed to make adjustments. When the knee pain got excruciating, the next ball I would probably jump less. When I jumped less, obviously the force needs to be produced through the core and the back and the shoulders, so the pubalgia would act up. So the third ball I would be extra side-on to try to use the hips. By the time I was done with six balls, I would be like, I need a break here,”Ashwin told Cricinfo.
“I contemplated retirement for a lot of reasons. I felt like people were not sensitive enough to my injuries. I felt like a lot of people were backed, why not me? I have done no less. I have won a lot of games for the team, and I am not feeling backed. I don't usually look for help, that somebody needs to back me, that somebody needs to cushion me or give me empathy. I felt I was not being able to be excellent and felt I needed a shoulder to lean on. It was not happening. I thought maybe I should try to find something else and be excellent at that,” he added.
The third highest wicket taker for India in Tests was going through a rough phase in life and his wife was the only person he would talk to about the conundrum he was in .
“Just after the England series in 2018, after Southampton, was one phase. Again in Australia later that year where I tore my abdomen after the Adelaide Test, before and after Sydney. Many stages. The only person I would be talking to was my wife. But my father was hell-bent: you will make a comeback in white-ball cricket, and I will see that before I die. For him it was more personal,” he added.
Ashwin is not just a great of the longest format but has also proved his mettle in the limited overs format too. He has scalped 150 ODI wickets in his career with an average of 32.91.
He is also the fastest Indian to pick 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 wickets in Test cricket. Ashwin is the only spinner to win ICC Cricketer of the Year Award. With so much of steam still left in him, Ashwin wants to contribute more and more to the Indian cricket.
