Ravichandran Ashwin, who delivered a fabulous performance against Afghanistan in India’s latest T20 World Cup game, had a lot to say about his approach to cricket, in what could be the final few years of an extraordinary career so far.
The 35-year-old featured for India after more than four years, making an appearance against Afghanistan, bowling a marvellous spell of off-spin, and picking up two wickets while conceding just 14 runs.
He provided the depth in the Indian bowling setup which was missing for the first two games of the T20 World Cup, both of which India lost.
Ashwin added that he waited patiently for his opportunity in the white-ball format, without getting frustrated at what some would call unjustified non-selection.
“I had special dreams getting into the World Cup, wanting to do special things for the team and after a point in time, trying to prove a point, whether right or wrong, not to anybody else but to yourself.
The news of me being selected for the World Cup was heartening, I had fun hearing the news in terms of enjoying myself and the gratification of what I wanted to achieve”
said Ashwin as he indulged in preparations for India’s clash against Scotland on Friday.
During the last few years, as the up-and-coming duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal made inroads into the white-ball setup, Ashwin saw his opportunities gradually decrease. All this at a time when Ashwin was undoubtedly in the prime of his career in the longer format of the game. At first, his omission from the squad was termed as “rest”, but it eventually became quite clear that the selectors were looking beyond him and examining their options.
Ashwin remarked that instead of cribbing about his non-selection, he instead used his time to enhance and refine his skills as a white-ball bowler, while also continuing to do well for Tamil Nadu in the domestic circuit.
With wrist spin getting the major spotlight in the modern game, Ashwin hopes that finger spin will also be given the appropriate respect that it deserves, especially after putting in several hours of work in perfecting his skill.
Ashwin also dealt deeply into the scientific side of spin bowling, the revolutions, the grip, and so on. He also went on to add that accepting his omission from the white ball squad, while not losing the will to do well, was the key to his success.
“Staying humble through good periods of success is a statement lot of people make, but I’ve firmly embraced it and lived it. Shane Warne once said you experience success 33% of times in your career. Sachin [Tendulkar] has also echoed that at some stage, so who am I, I am no different.
The easiest way to cope with it, to go through a professional circle like that is to keep preparing keep working hard, expecting an opportunity to turn up at your doorstep one day and when it happens you have all the options to break open doors, latches and locks.”
he added as he spoke about his mentality and his attitude towards the game.
