‘I have put in a lot of effort, but it is not coming through’: Ravichandran Ashwin considered retirement, ‘felt like people were not sensitive enough’

‘I have put in a lot of effort, but it is not coming through’: Ravichandran Ashwin considered retirement, ‘felt like people were not sensitive enough’

Ravichandran Ashwin

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the smartest brains in the game going around. Ashwin doesn’t boast a very athletic physique and what he misses out on the physical front, the veteran office makes it up with his tactical genius. It is his gem of a brain and resilience that has seen him shine through despite facing numerous obstacles in his career.

Being a spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin banks a lot on his tactical skills to outfox batsmen and he shares that a good part of his preparation for a series goes into observing the opposition batsmen. The 35-year-old asserts that he makes sure he leaves no aspect of the opposition go by during the preparation and it has helped his analytical skills.

“I will watch every single ball. And I will watch slow-mo, super slow-mo. I try and see if I can dissect it. If there are differences in triggers, use split-screen. If I’m not able to entirely dissect it, I go to Hari (the team analyst) and ask him to put a split screen on Ball A, Ball B, Ball C,” Ravichandran Ashwin told The Cricket Monthly.

“By the time I get to the game, I don’t want to leave any stone unturned. I’ve always been pretty good assessing a batsman on the field, but over the last three, four years, I think I’ve taken my assessment analytically to another level because I felt like I can’t miss even 0.5% advantage I might get.“

Ravichandran Ashwin relives the dark phase of his stunning career

Ravichandran Ashwin
Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin has had his fair share of injuries and coming back into the Indian team following a long break is never easy. Ashwin suffered a streak of injuries back in 2018 and the off-spinner shares that he even considered quitting the game. The Chennai born spinner adds that he felt he wasn’t backed up during his tough like some other players were.

“Between 2018 and 2020, I contemplated giving up the sport at various points. I thought, “I have put in a lot of effort, but it is not coming through.” The harder I tried, the farther it felt. Especially with athletic pubalgia and the patellar tendonitis – I used to bowl six balls and then I used to be gasping for breath. And there would be pain all over the place,” he shares.

“I contemplated retirement for a lot of reasons. I felt like people were not sensitive enough to my injuries. I felt like a lot of people were backed, why not me? I have done no less. I have won a lot of games for the team, and I am not feeling backed. I don’t usually look for help, that somebody needs to back me, that somebody needs to cushion me or give me empathy. I felt I was not being able to be excellent and felt I needed a shoulder to lean on. It was not happening. I thought maybe I should try to find something else and be excellent at that.“

In Ravichandran Ashwin’s absence, Kuldeep Yadav shot to fame. Yadav’s five-wicket haul in the fourth Test in Sydney saw him put a strong case for the role of the lead spinner of the team overseas. Then coach Ravi Shashtri even hailed Kuldeep as the first choice spinner away from home and the comment didn’t go well with Ravichandran Ashwin.

“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,” Ashwin shares.

Ashwin went on to recall how he dealt with Shahstri’s comment. The 35-year-old found refuge in his family before he joined the team for the celebration. After all it was India’ maiden Test series win Down Under. “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.“

When quizzed about the secret behind his calmer approach over the last couple of years, Ravichandran Ashwin shares that he has been seeing a mental conditioning coach and it has helped him a lot. “It started well before that. I worked with a mental-conditioning coach for four to six months. He helped me psychologically, he was my bouncing board, he was a mirror for a while.“

“The first conversation I had with him, I said, “Boss, if you’re also going to say that I am the one at fault, then I don’t want to do this. Because I’ve heard it all my life and I don’t have time for it.” He said, “Okay, okay, don’t worry, I will send you a questionnaire, just fill it up.” So he just took it in a different direction. And yeah, it worked.“

Also Read | IPL 2022: 5 all-rounders who might grab big bucks at the mega auction