Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the best spinners of India. He is regarded as a bowler who outthinks his opponents. The 34-year-old from Chennai has taken 409 Test wickets so far.
Ashwin was quoted as saying by the ICC ahead of the ongoing World Test Championship final between India and New Zealand: “The beauty about Test cricket is you are always aspiring to be perfect but you can settle for excellence, so that’s pretty much I think I do.”
“I think whatever I have achieved so far in my career is because of that attitude, did not settle for anything, constantly looking to improve.”
Ashwin revealed when he plans to retire. He said: “I maintained that if I don’t like doing different things and if I lose the patience to do something new or get satisfied, then I might not play the sport anymore.”
“It’s not like that I enjoy controversy but I enjoy a fight and that pretty much sums up why I am here. I don’t celebrate victories as much as I ideally should because for me victory is an incident and is coincidental to planning and practice. I sit and think about what can be better.”
Ashwin further added: “I don’t really read or dwell on my performances to be very honest. To be brutally honest, I just hate the fact that I am who I am because of what I do. In India, you get a lot of adulation, but I am just another normal person who finds peace and happiness playing the sport.”
“It is just absolutely wonderful that I can ply my trade and feed my family and I get paid so well. This is a sport that gives meaning for me to live.”
“I am too excited about it. I don’t time for people rating me or not rating me. It’s just another person’s opinion and that’s just brutally how I live my life.”
India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah considers Ashwin as one of the greats of the game. Bumrah said: “I think he (Ashwin) is one of the greats of the game because if you look at his record, it speaks for itself. He has done well with the bat as well as with the ball. He has taken more than 400 Test wickets, so that doesn’t come by chance.”
India’s bowling coach Bharat Arun also lavished praise on Ashwin’s work ethics and said he is never satisfied and wants to learn new things daily. Arun said: “Ashwin is not very happy with whatever he does, he always loves to come out of his comfort zone and learn new things, develop different angles and that’s what makes him so special.”
“He understands his bowling most often. What bowlers actually think they are doing are two different things, so Ashwin understands his bowling to bridge this gap.”
“So once a bowler bridges this gap, he has a bigger chance to innovate and that’s what makes (him) very special.”
