He was a medium-pacer in the third division of the Chennai league. All that he wanted when his son started playing cricket was to see him play in the first division. Middle-class families have humble aspirations. There is usually no dreaming big. But the son set high standards for himself. In the end, he ended up surpassing his father’s expectations by a few notches.
It was fitting that on the day Ravichandran Ashwin reached the milestone of 500 Test wickets, he paid tribute to his father. “I’d like to dedicate this feat to my father,” he said after the second day’s play in Rajkot . “He’s been with me through thick and thin and probably has a heart attack every time he watches me play. His health has probably gone for a toss because of that.”
A former employee in the accounts department of Southern Railways, Ravichandran was and is a cricket fan. When he saw that his son was taking interest in playing the game, he tried his best to ensure that a young Ashwin got the necessary coaching and guidance. It’s well known that he used to take his son on his scooter to the coaching centres in Chennai.
What’s not that well known is that Ravichandran’s interest in cricket never diminished, and this was not restricted to watching his son perform. Until a few years ago, he used to turn up at nondescript grounds in Chennai for Buchi Babu Trophy games. Ashwin was already a star, and not even playing those matches. But Ravichandran would invariably be there riding his motorcycle. His son had become the owner of fancy cars by then. Despite cardiac ailments, Ravichandran was seen with his friends at the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka Ranji Trophy match at Chepauk even last week.
EXCLUSIVE: 500 Test wickets for #RavichandranAshwin!
The Indian spin maestro becomes the second Indian, after Anil Kumble, and second-fastest overall, after Muttiah Muralitharan, to achieve the historic feat.
Listen in and dive deep into @ashwinravi99‘s mind!#INDvsENGTest pic.twitter.com/4ANG0OY033
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) February 16, 2024
It’s impossible to measure how much, but his celebrity son must have learnt and benefited from these down-to-earth values and unconditional love for the game. He kept his feet on the ground, and played tennis-ball cricket with kids in the neighbourhood even after getting selected to the Indian team and bagging IPL contracts. He did not let success go to his head.
“My memory jogs back to the days when I took him on my scooter to school and for coaching,” Ravichandran was quoted as saying by Indian Express. “For a father to have a wish or a dream is one thing. But for the son to buy into it and make sacrifices is different. Ashwin made us live a dream.”
Other than values, Ashwin inherited something else from his father. He looks almost exactly like Ravichandran!
