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Ravichandran Ashwin on Wednesday, December 18 called it quits from international cricket. The decision from the veteran Indian all-rounder came soon after the third Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) ended in a draw with the series standing levelled at 1-1. Days after his retirement, the former cricketer opened up, sharing the need to debunk some myths.
The 38-year-old while speaking on a Sky Sports podcast, opened up on an incident from his book “I Have The Street: A Kutty Story”, which was released in July this year, just five months before he announced retirement. In a discussion with former England cricketer Michael Atherton, Ashwin clarified that one of the biggest myths was people thought he would never enjoy the game as much as Virat Kohli did.
I'm never a serious person: Ashwin
Speaking with the former England captain, Ashwin exclaimed, "I wanted people to know me for who I am, because a lot of times, Ashwin's picking up a wicket and Virat Kohli is all over the place. He's just jumping about and people very often tend to believe that Ashwin's the one that's absolutely serious and Virat's the one that's having all the fun, which is why somebody asked me the question, why are you serious all the time?” “My answer to that in the first place is I'm never a serious person, but when somebody is clobbering me and I have the ball in my hand to win a Test Match for my country, my mind is sticking, because I'm in the process," Ashwin added.
“So very often, you don't see me picking up a five-wicket haul and pushing across a kiss through the blade of my bat to my better half sitting in the dressing room or sitting in the hospitality box. So I felt like a lot of who I am got diluted in the fact of what I've become. So I wanted to bring that out in my book," he continued.
I’m the MVP of my cricket: Ashwin
India's second-highest wicket-taker across formats with 765 wickets said India cricket has been blessed with legends like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma but he believes it would be extremely wrong to sideline the other members as a "support cast" because cricket is a team sport and he would always remain the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in his story.
"A lot of people talk about, when they talk about Indian cricket, that's one thing I want to change over the years. They talk about Virat Kohli, they have been talking about Rohit over the years. When I grew up, I spoke a lot about Sachin, I spoke about other superstars, the celebrities. One message I would leave for everybody and I want to constantly change is that it's not the fact that these are glorious cricketers but people on the outside who believe that everyone plays a support cast are extremely wrong because this is a sport. An MVP in my life, for my dad or for my mom, I am the MVP. It's not Rohit, Virat or somebody on the outside, likewise, everyone's journey is unique. For me, I have always been the MVP and I am the MVP of my cricket," he added.
