Ask R Ashwin about obsession, and he will smile. In fact, he had once said to me, “Many say I am obsessed. Yes, I am. Against the batters who are the best, I do everything I can to be the best prepared. Steve Smith was one such. I tried to do all I possibly could to get into his mind and be ready for him. He was the most important wicket, and we had to get him early. When you study someone as closely, you almost tend to know what he will be doing. That’s what helped to get him out.”
Needless to say, Ashwin, on the cusp of playing his 100th Test, is a special talent. But just talent alone doesn’t get you anywhere. Everyone who plays at the highest level possesses talent. You have to hone that and make it something very different. A heady cocktail that then makes for longevity, allows you to reinvent the wheel day after day. That’s what Ashwin has been able to do for a decade and more. Add to all of this the real hard yards he has put in. “My body doesn’t always help me,” he once told me. “Unlike some others, I have to work harder on my body to keep myself game ready. Injuries have often plagued me, and the recovery hasn’t been easy. But then the desperation to play for India is such that I can go to any extent to push my body.”
Sydney 2021 was actually the best example of this. Ashwin’s body had given way, and he was in excruciating pain ahead of the final day of the Test match. With India reduced to half the side because of injury and with Ravindra Jadeja finding it very hard with a broken finger, Ashwin knew he would be needed with the bat if India had to save the game. “I just couldn’t get up from the bed,” Ashwin said, looking back on that series. “The pain was such that even turning was an ordeal. I was crying out in pain when my wife called hotel housekeeping staff to literally help lift me and put me in the bathtub. The idea was to splash hot water on my back to see if it got a little better. In fact, she was the one who helped me change, and somehow, I managed to get to the ground. Not once did I sit, because I knew if I sat down, I wouldn’t be able to stand up and walk. And when I went out to bat, I told [Hanuma] Vihari that I wasn’t in a position to bend down, but neither of us would lose our wicket, come what may.”
This is the kind of fight you look for in a player. The quest for excellence is what defines his craft. Not every day will he get a five-for. In fact, on most days, he wouldn’t. For that’s how sport is and will always be. But that doesn’t stop Ashwin from pushing harder each day. With him, it is all effort. Intensity and commitment rolled into one. The process and the preparation are what he controls, and there, the effort is maximum. That’s what explains the 500 wickets in record time, and now this peak of 100 Test matches.
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It wouldn’t be wrong to say that Ashwin is one of the greatest match-winners India has produced. Add the runs and the hundreds he has scored to the 500 wickets, and you will understand the enormity of his achievement. And yet, we don’t celebrate Ashwin enough. Is he as revered as some of our batting greats? Do we really do what we need to for him? Can we redeem ourselves as he gets ready to step out in Dharamsala?
In Rajkot, Ashwin had to leave the Test midway to attend to a family emergency. His mother was in hospital, and he had to be with her at the time. But then, much to everyone’s surprise, he returned the very next day to do the job for India. Not that it is any index of patriotism. Had he not come back a day later to bowl for India, he would not be any less a patriot. But the point here is about his passion for the sport even after picking up 500 wickets.
After having achieved almost everything that there is to achieve, Ashwin remains the same. “I can die on the cricket field,” he had once said. “It is like a temple, and I can do anything to be out there for India.” That’s what it is all about. An obsessive urge to pursue excellence. Never stop short of putting in your best and never try the short cut. If anything, Ashwin always tries too hard. Maybe he needed to relax a little at times, for his own sake. But then, it wouldn’t be Ashwin. It is just not him to let things be when on a cricket field. Even if it is a game on his terrace, he would be as competitive as when bowling to Ben Stokes. It comes naturally to him and is part of the Ashwin narrative.
As we get ready to start the Trailblazers conclave, I have to say that Ashwin is the perfect fit for an event like this. Articulate, passionate and committed to his craft. Wish him all the best for his 100th, and hope he plays many more.
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