Wearing the Indian jersey gives me utmost pride, reveals Ravichandran Ashwin

Wrist-spinners have taken the cricketing world by storm in the last couple of years. As a result, ace Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has fallen out of the scheme of things in the limited-overs teams for India. Despite being one of the main bowlers for close to 5 years, Ashwin was dropped after some lacklustre performances in ODI cricket in 2017. 

The 31-year-old off-spinner and regular Test partner Ravindra Jadeja have lost their ODI spots to leggies Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav who have grabbed their opportunities and cemented their places in ODI and T20I squads. Many believe that this year’s IPL, where he will be leading Kings XI Punjab, is a brilliant opportunity for him to silence his critics and storm his way back into the India limited-overs team. 

Next year’s World Cup in England and Wales should also provide motivation for him to try and claw his way back into the ODI squad but the Tamil Nadu offspinner said that wearing the Indian jersey gives him ‘utmost pride’. 

“None of these things actually motivate me more than myself. Yes, wearing the Indian jersey gives me utmost pride, there’s no doubt about it, but these are not moves that I aim to or intend to try and do in order to take a wake-up call,” Ashwin said was quoted saying in an interview, as reported by Hindustan Times.

“It’s all about wanting to get better. I’ve mentioned all the time that it’s about wanting to bowl those four overs (in T20s) or 10 overs (in ODIs), whatever that be, and be almost unplayable. That’s been top of my mind all the time. 

“I don’t do PR activity either, it’s not me. It’s only me that wants to get better every single day, that’s the hunger that’s left,” the 31-year-old offspinner revealed. 

Ravichandran Ashwin believes finger-spinners are battling a perception of ineffectiveness in limited-overs cricket. He feels that things will turn around and finger-spinners will come back into recognition. 

“The future of finger-spinners lies in the perception of people. More so because it’s based on perception about what people think of what’s relevant and what’s not. Things will turn around. At one point of time, leg-spinners didn’t have a place (in limited-overs cricket), now they do. Finger-spinners, maybe you all think don’t have a role, will come back too,” the newly appointed Kings XI Punjab skipper stated. 

“People have been allowing 64 runs for two wickets in 10 overs of leg-spin too. If you give the same courage to the finger-spinners, they’ll do the same thing. It’s all about perception. I think handling bowlers is all about how you handle them and you how perceive them,” Ashwin explained.

Ashwin also revealed that he is never shy to try out different things and highlighted the importance of evolving with time. 

“I’ve always been that kind of a character. I’ve always tried bowling different things, it’s not something new. The game is the boss and if the game’s demands are such and such, you don’t have a choice, you’ll have to try and evolve with time,” he said. 

Ashwin also said that he had always been prepared to take risks. “There was an element of risk once I chose to play cricket itself, because if I didn’t end up going all the way, I wouldn’t have any choices right now. But I did take up the game,” he revealed.