Over the last decade, along with a batter who is missing from the ongoing series for personal reasons, he has been the milestone man of Indian cricket. Soon after adding another feather to his cap — that of becoming only the second Indian and ninth bowler ever to earn 500 Test wickets — R. Ashwin was content and stressed he isn’t interested in setting his eyes on Mt. 620.
The only other bowler with more Test wickets than him is Anil Kumble, the legendary leg-spinner. But Ashwin is not even thinking of getting closer to Kumble’s tally of 619 wickets. “No, that’s 120 wickets away man. You know I’m 37-years-old. I don’t know what’s in store next or what’s in store in the next two months. You play this series, and then what lies ahead, You really don’t know. I don’t want to really jump the gun. I have kept it this way for the last four-five years and it’s been very simple. And it’s worked for me. Why change anything that’s working for you?”
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Ashwin reflected on his achievement. “It’s been a very long journey. I don’t exactly know where to begin because I was an accidental spinner. I wanted to be a batter all along. Life gave me a chance, and when I walked into the CSK dressing room, Muttiah Muralitharan didn’t want to bowl with the new ball, and eventually I got tossed the new ball,” Ashwin recalled.
“I had a reasonable First Class start to my life. First Class career was pretty good, but nevertheless, the stage in the IPL made me visible to a lot of people, and I eventually got my Test debut. People doubted whether I could be a Test bowler, and yeah, 10-13 years later, not bad. Not a bad achievement, so I’m pretty glad.”
He may have downplayed his achievement, but Ashwin admitted on having “fought a level of perception” not just on the cricket field but “in my life”. “In the last five-six years, I have actually not cared about it (what others think of me). I can’t keep proving everybody wrong or I can’t prove everybody right. I am glad that somebody is happy and somebody is not, but I need to be happy.”
“I am in a really good space in my life and I want this to continue, and I don’t want to let go of the love for the game. At one point in my life, I was in a really dark space, and I didn’t want to watch the game, and that’s not where I want to go in my life ever again.”
