‘In that moment, I felt crushed’ – R Ashwin opens up on Ravi Shastri’s comments
Ravichandran Ashwin is the third-highest wicket-taker for India in Test cricket, but he’s been in and out of the Test XI in overseas Tests for a while now. As India embark on another big overseas tour – this time South Africa, where they are yet to win a Test series – Ashwin spoke in detail about his career, injuries, and future to Cricket Monthly.
The 2018 time was a tough one for him according to the interview as he had suffered an injury that led to several domino effects where he felt pain through his body and found it tough to get through a day’s play. Ashwin says he contemplated walking away from the game in 2018, but then stayed on.
He says that the statements made in the press about him not trying enough hurt him big time, and he says that the injuries left a “scar” in him. “In the cricketing community [in India], the understanding towards injuries is pathetic. Clearly there is a reason why I was getting injured, but we are not interested in finding that out. We just keep repeating that the problem is a problem, but that does not help me find a solution. Nor will shaming someone for getting injured,” Ashwin says.
“A lot of team-mates get injured, but when I got injured, it seemed more than what it was. There was insensitivity towards injury. It scarred me deeply. I would go to county cricket thinking, ‘I should just get through the day.’ That I should bowl 25 overs without injuring myself. Because if I injure myself in county cricket, I would end up raising eyebrows.”
Ashwin on comments made by Shastri in early 2019
Around this time, he hints at not having the backing of the team management as much as he would have liked. The interviewer reminded him of Ravi Shastri’s comments on Kuldeep Yadav being the new Test No.1 spinner overseas after the five-wicket haul in Australia in early 2019.
“He plays overseas Test cricket and he gets five wickets, so he becomes our primary overseas spinner. Going ahead, if we have to play one spinner, he is the one we will pick,” Shastri had told at the time to Cricbuzz. While Kuldeep did not play another Test match for quite a while, Ashwin says the comments “crushed him”.
“I hold Ravi bhai in high esteem. We all do. And I understand we all can say things and then retract them. In that moment, though, I felt crushed. Absolutely crushed. We all talk about how important it is to enjoy your team-mates’ success. And I was happy for Kuldeep. I have not been able to get a five-for but he has a five-for in Australia. I know how big it is. Even when I have bowled well [at other times], I haven’t ended up with a five-for. So I am genuinely happy for him. And it’s an extremely happy occasion, to win in Australia.
But if I have to come and partake in his happiness, and the success of the team, I must feel like I belong there. If I feel like I am being thrown under the bus, how am I supposed to get up and come for a party to enjoy the team’s or team-mate’s success? I went back to my room and then I spoke to my wife. And my children were there. So we were able to, you know, shrug it off, and I still made it to the party, because, end of the day, we had won a massive series.”
Ashwin had taken six wickets in the first Test, including three of the first four wickets in the first Test, and had done quite well in India’s win at the Adelaide Oval. He cited not getting enough support then, stating that all he heard was about Lyon’s six-wicket haul. However, Ashwin says he wouldn’t hold it against Ravi Shastri.
“So like in the case of Ravi bhai and how crushed I was, I know a lot of people with such experiences would hold it against him forever, but I’m not one of them. I am actually happy to sit across the table and have a conversation about it. And it is not about him at all for me. Because anybody can make a mistake. So I’ve started seeing things beyond people,” Ashwin says later in the interview.