Team India's veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin opened up on the changing dynamics inside the Indian dressing room. The No. 1 ranked Test bowler, who was surprisingly dropped from India's playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, made some startling revelations regarding how the times have changed in Indian cricket. In an interview with The Indian Express, Ashwin was asked whether he had an honest conversation about his feelings with teammates after being dropped from WTC final playing XI. The veteran came up with a rather eye-opening statement.
"It's a deep topic," said Ashwin before going on to explain how teammates who used to be friends once upon a time have now become mere colleagues.
"This is an era where everybody is a colleague. Once upon a time when cricket was played, all your teammates were friends. Now, they’re colleagues. There’s a big difference because here people are there to advance themselves and to stride ahead of another person sitting to your right or left. So nobody’s got the time to say, ‘okay, boss what are you up to’?" he said.
Commenting further on the reality of the Indian dressing room, Ashwin said it is always better when teammates share their journeys with each other. But the veteran office admitted that it doesn't happen anymore and it has turned into an isolated journey.
"In fact, I believe cricket gets better when you share it. It gets better when you when you understand another person’s technique and another person’s journey. But it doesn’t happen anywhere close to how much it must happen. Nobody will come for your help. It’s an isolated journey. Of course, you can reach any professional you want to, tap into some coach, you can pay and go, practice, try to feed of them and all that. But sometimes we forget that cricket is a very self-taught sport," he added.
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