As R Ashwin pauses at 500 wickets, I’d like to take my readers back to a conversation that took place when he was on 220 wickets after 39 Tests. “I am bowling at my best,” he said with the resolve that has always set him apart. “There is no doubt about that, but can I do better is the question I keep asking myself. There is no end to improvement. But at the moment, the ball if coming out nicely and I am feeling very good about bowling. I don’t go into matches thinking I will win the game, but surely, if I don’t pick five wickets for the team, I feel a sense of disappointment. I’d want to master the art of picking five-wicket hauls.”
Having bonded well with Anil Kumble, then coach, Ashwin went on to say, “Even in a team dinner, Anil bhai would discuss how to win the next game, and frankly I don’t mind it. Anil bhai is an example of where you can take your game with determination and hard work, and if I ever get to a position where I can cross 619 wickets, I will perhaps decide to call it off as a mark of respect to him. He is a legend, and deserves all the respect we can give him.”
He is now 119 wickets away, and if he goes about his craft in the same manner for two more years, he could well get very close to Kumble.
Perhaps on par with Virat Kohli when it comes to expressing his thought process eloquently, Ashwin has never held back his words. Sample this from Sydney 2021. “Look, I would like to point out something,” he said. “This is my fourth tour to Australia. Sydney, especially here, we have had a few experiences even in the past. One or two times, even the players have reacted and have got into trouble (Kohli 2011) in the past. Not because of players, but actually the way the crowd has been speaking, especially the lower tier of the stands.
“They have been quite nasty, and have been hurling abuses as well. But this is the time when they have gone one step ahead, and used racial abuses. It is not acceptable in this day and age when we have seen a lot. This roots back to upbringing and the way one sees. This needs to be definitely dealt with iron fists. We must make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Ashwin’s press conferences are fascinating, and if he ever gets a whiff that he or his team are being rubbed the wrong way, he doesn’t take it lying down.
Also Read: Ravi Ashwin reaches 500, Ben Duckett’s blitz keeps England in the hunt
Sample this when the age-old allegations of under-prepared tracks had come to the fore during England’s last tour of India. Ashwin didn’t hold back when the indirect insinuations resurfaced. When a British scribe asked if the quality of track offered was of Test standard, Ashwin launched a swift but sarcasm-laden counter-offensive. “I have a question back,” he retorted. “What is a good cricket surface?”
“I am the one asking the question… good contest between bat and ball?” – the journalist was not one to give up.
“What makes a good surface?” asked an agitated Ashwin again. “Who defines this? Seam on the first day, and then bat well, and then spin on the last two days? Come on! Who makes all these rules? We need to get over it, and not talk about whatever picture you want to paint.
“If you are asking if it is a good Test surface, I don’t see any of the players coming from England having an issue with the surface. They want to improve, they look like they want to have a contest.
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
“Is it the ex-players and the people who are reporting back that want their players to not compete and complain about the pitches? Because we have never done that on any of the tours.”
Education has always given Ashwin an edge over others, and perhaps that’s one of the reasons he has been so sure about how he wants to lead his life and his go-to philosophy.
Whatever be the case, suffice to say Ashwin still has a lot to contribute to Indian cricket. He still remains a match-winner on his day. With age increasingly becoming irrelevant in sport thanks to sports science, Ashwin definitely has a few years left in him. A personal crisis may have deprived India of his services for the remainder of this Test match, but we certainly haven’t seen the last of this utterly unique and straight-shooting champion.
Also Read: A chip off the old block – Ravichandran’s role in Ashwin’s ascent