Ravichandran Ashwin, despite being the top-ranked Test bowler and one of the top-10 wicket-takers in Test history, has been going through a difficult time. His exclusion from the World Test Championship final against Australia earlier this month came as a huge blow to the legendary spinner.
During tough times like these, people often seek support from family and friends in the same profession, preferably on the same team. However, when asked about this, Ashwin revealed a sad reality of Indian cricket in the aftermath of the WTC final snub.
Ashwin was left out of the big final at The Oval last week against Australia, in favor of Umesh Yadav. This decision was met with strong criticism from veteran cricketers who were furious with captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid. The decision had been discussed for a long time after India’s second successive WTC final loss, by 209 runs.
In an interview with the Indian Express, Ashwin was asked if he sought help or had a frank conversation with any of his teammates. His initial response was that it was a deep topic. He went on to explain that with the intense competition for every slot in the team, the concept of friendship has taken a back seat in the Indian dressing room.
” This is an era where everybody is a colleague. Once upon a time when cricket was played, all your teammates were friends. Now, they’re colleagues. There’s a big difference because here people are there to advance themselves and to stride ahead of another person sitting to your right or left. So nobody’s got the time to say, ‘okay, boss what are you up to’?” he said.
Ashwin expressed his belief that it is beneficial for the team when players share their techniques and experiences. However, he noted that this is not the case in the Indian team, as players tend to keep to themselves. In fact, he described the experience as an isolated journey.
“In fact, I believe cricket gets better when you share it. It gets better when you when you understand another person’s technique and another person’s journey. But it doesn’t happen anywhere close to how much it must happen. Nobody will come for your help. It’s an isolated journey. Of course, you can reach any professional you want to, tap into some coach, you can pay and go, practice, try to feed of them and all that. But sometimes we forget that cricket is a very self-taught sport,” he added.
With India’s international matches not scheduled until mid-July, Ashwin has taken on the role of captain for the Dindigul Dragons in the Tamil Nadu Premier League 2023 season.
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