Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on the tough times when he was not in a great state both physically and mentally. Ashwin is one the biggest match-winners for India in red-ball cricket and currently ranked number 1 in the ICC Test bowling charts. The ace spinner has worked really hard on his bowling and still at the age of 36, he doesn’t shy away from learning more tricks and adding more weapons to his arsenal.
Ashwin witnessed some tough times during COVID-19 as his father and wife were admitted to the hospital when he was in the bio-bubble in IPL.
“I don’t know. I mean, looking back at it I don’t know if that had an impact, but generally, I was not in a great state physically and mentally. After the 2018 England tour, I didn’t play in the 2019 World Cup, I was not even in contention. I was not in a good state. So when I came out of it, I told myself not, it’s not worth it,” Ashwin told Indian Express.
The veteran skipper talked about his leadership aspirations and how he decided to work on his intra-personal skills when his not-so-good captaincy stint with Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) came to an end.
“At one point in time, I wanted to be a three-format player. I always believed I had great leadership qualities in me. And always believed that I could be a good leader because it’s not about leading on the field. It’s leading men. However, when that journey (leading Kings XI Punjab) came to an end, I figured I needed to work on my intra-personal skills,” he added.
Ashwin led the Mohali-based franchise in IPL 2018 and 2019 but he failed to guide them to playoffs and joined Delhi Capitals in the 2020 season.
However, the ace spinner said that his journey to work on intra-personal skills was a bit tough but was very necessary.
“It wasn’t the greatest, but I had to go through that journey to understand it. Because, how intense I am as a cricketer is not necessarily somebody else’s journey,” he added.
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