Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled his heart out during the first of two-match Test series against New Zealand that ended as a draw at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium.
Ashwin Interview With Shreyas Iyer
After the match ended, the bowler opened up on his career in whites as he said that he did not know if he would play Test cricket during the lockdown imposed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In an interview with teammate Shreyas Iyer for BCCI.tv, Ashwin made a staggering revelation, admitting that he was crossroads last year and didn’t know if he would ever be done the whites again.
For him to make this statement, hours after surpassing Harbhajan Singh to become the third-highest wicket-taker in Tests for India, speaks volumes of the struggles that stars have to go through.
The 35-year-old Ashwin, who took his 419th wicket in his 80th Test to surpass Harbhajan (417 in 103 Tests) on Monday, said got very candid with Iyer in a chat.
“To be very modest about what is happening in my life and my career over the last couple of years, I did not know if I would go on to play Test cricket when we were in the pandemic, in the lockdown,” Ashwin said.
“I had not played (India’s) the last Test in Christchurch (which began on February 29, 2020). I was standing at the crossroads thinking whether I would play Tests again, where is my future headed, do I get into the Test team which is the only format I am playing. But God has been kind and I have been able to turn things around,” he said.
“I then shifted to Delhi Capitals when you (Shreyas) were the captain and things have changed ever since,” he said in the interview shared by BCCI’s official Twitter handle.
The video was uploaded after India and New Zealand played out a dramatic draw in Kanpur. Needing 280 runs to win with 9 wickets in hand on a Day 5 pitch in India, the Kiwis managed to bat through the day as the final pairing of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel batted for 51 balls.
Talking about the game, Ashwin said, ” After the game, it is still sinking in, the fact that we could not win, we were so close yet so far. It’s a tough thing to get over for me.
“It happened once in Jamaica where we could not cross the line, on the last day we were trying to force a victory but could not get it. It takes some time for me especially as a bowler bowling in the last innings, but it just did not happen today,” said Ashwin.
Team India will lock their horns against New Zealand to play the second Test match of the 2 match series on December 2, where Virat Kohli will be back to the squad and lead the team.
