“I hold Ravi bhai with great respect. We all do. And I understand we can all say something and then take him back. In that moment, though, I felt crushed”
India’s premier off-spinner R Ashwin has revealed that he felt like he was “thrown under the bus” after a comment by former head coach Ravi Shastri, when he told him during a difficult period in his career. “crushed” when he contemplated retirement several times. ,
in an interview with ‘ESPNcricinfo’, Ashwin was asked how he felt when then coach Shastri appointed Kuldeep Yadav as India’s No. 1 spinner overseas after he took five wickets in the 2019 Sydney Test against Australia.
Ashwin said he was really happy for Kuldeep as he knew how difficult it was to take five wickets as a spinner in Australia but Shastri’s remarks left him “absolutely crushed”.
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Ashwin said, “I have a lot of respect for Ravi bhai. We all do. And I understand we can all say something and then take him back. In that moment, though, I felt crushed. Absolutely crushed.”
“We all talk about how important it is to enjoy the success of your teammates. And I was happy for Kuldeep. I didn’t get five-five but he has five-five in Australia. I know That’s how big it is. Even when I’ve bowled well (at other times), I didn’t end up with a five-five. So I’m really happy for him. And it’s an extremely Happy occasion, to win in Australia.
“But if I’m to come and share in their happiness and the success of the team, I should feel like I’m there. If I feel like I’m going to be thrown under the bus, how am I supposed to get up and go? How come a party is supposed to enjoy the success of the team or teammates?” Ashwin, however, still attended the celebratory party that was held after the Indian team’s historic series win.
“I went back to my room and then I talked to my wife. And my kids were there. So we were able to, you know, kick it off, and I still made it to the party, because at the end of the day We won the big series.” The 35-year-old said that repeated injuries meant he was playing under “excruciating pain” when he took three wickets in each innings to guide India to victory in the first Test.
Shastri’s remarks were too much for Ashwin after he played a key role in the team’s victory in the first match of the series.
“The first Test seemed like a distant memory until then. I took three of the first four wickets in the first innings, when we were dismissed cheaply, and then when it got really flat in the last innings, So I scored 50. Plus over and took three wickets, which turned out to be a grade three stomach tear.
“In my mind, I had done something good for the team in unbearable pain, but all I heard was, “Nathan Lyon hits a six, Ashwin takes a three”.
“Anyway, when I was in really good bowling form, I was disappointed with my body for letting me down. The last thing I needed was these comparisons and allusions. Between that reaction and Sydney, it didn’t seem like that. I had played any part,” said Ashwin.
Ashwin has been a huge asset to India in the longer format of the game, both at home and away.
The spinner has so far taken 427 Test wickets, making him the third-highest wicket-taker from the country in the red-ball format after Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev.
But between 2018 and 2020, there was a phase when he almost gave up playing.
“Between 2018 and 2020, I considered quitting the sport at various points. I thought, ‘I’ve tried a lot, but it’s not happening.’ “The harder I tried, the farther I felt. Especially with athletic pubalgia and patellar tendonitis — I’d throw six balls and then I’d gasp for breath. And there would be pain everywhere.
“So you needed to make adjustments. When the knee pain intensified, I would probably jump lower on the next ball. When I jumped lower, obviously the force needed to be produced through the core and back and shoulders so pubalgia (a chronic groin lesion) would work.
Ashwin recalled, “So on the third ball I would have been extra side-on to use the hips. By the time I was done with six balls, I would be like, ‘I need a break here.'”
He also said that injury breaks in overseas assignments are often ridiculed by the game’s observers, an attitude that reflects a lack of empathy in the cricket community.
“Only when it hits them personally do they have empathy. Empathy is being able to put themselves in the place of others, and feel, ‘Hey what if this happens to me?’ I think that’s what we lack as a cricket community.”
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