IND vs SA: Ravichandran Ashwin’s big revelation: Ravichandran Ashwin, India’s third highest wicket-taker in Test cricket, has confessed that he thought of retiring from cricket between 2018-2020 as people were insensitive towards his injury, and that he was not backed like others. Follow more such sports news on InsideSport.IN.
IND vs SA: Ravichandran Ashwin’s big revelation: ‘I contemplated retirement, people were insensitive towards my injuries’
The 35-year-old, who is currently gearing up for India’s first Test match against South Africa in Centurion, has revealed that he would find it difficult to breathe after bowling just six balls, adding that “there would be pain all over the place” due to athletic pubalgia and the patellar tendonitis.
“Between 2018 and 2020, I contemplated giving up the sport at various points. I thought, “I have put in a lot of effort, but it is not coming through.” The harder I tried, the farther it felt. Especially with athletic pubalgia and the patellar tendonitis – I used to bowl six balls and then I used to be gasping for breath. And there would be pain all over the place. So you needed to make adjustments. When the knee pain got excruciating, the next ball I would probably jump less. When I jumped less, obviously the force needs to be produced through the core and the back and the shoulders, so the pubalgia would act up. So the third ball I would be extra side-on to try to use the hips. By the time I was done with six balls, I would be like, “I need a break here,” Ashwin told ESPNcricinfo.
“I contemplated retirement for a lot of reasons. I felt like people were not sensitive enough to my injuries. I felt like a lot of people were backed, why not me? I have done no less. I have won a lot of games for the team, and I am not feeling backed. I don’t usually look for help, that somebody needs to back me, that somebody needs to cushion me or give me empathy. I felt I was not being able to be excellent and felt I needed a shoulder to lean on. It was not happening. I thought maybe I should try to find something else and be excellent at that,” he added.
Ashwin has also talked about the backing he got from his wife, and also his father who was confident that his son would make white-ball comeback for India.
“Just after the England series in 2018, after Southampton, was one phase. Again in Australia later that year where I tore my abdomen after the Adelaide Test, before and after Sydney. Many stages. The only person I would be talking to was my wife. But my father was hell-bent: you will make a comeback in white-ball cricket, and I will see that before I die. For him it was more personal.”
IND vs SA: Ashwin played a total of 18 Test matches between 2018 and 2020 and took as many as 71 wickets at an average of 24.26. He was part of 10 overseas Test between the period, taking 37 wickets at 27.02. Overall, Ashwin has played 81 Test matches for India and taken 427 wickets at a spectacular average of 24.12.
The Chennai-born recently returned to white-ball for the first time after 2017 and featured in the T20 World Cup 2021 in the UAE and Oman.
2017: I wrote this quote down a million times in my diary before putting this up on the wall! Quotes that we read and admire have more power when we internalise them and apply in life.
Happiness and gratitude are the only 2 words that define me now.🙏 #t20worldcup2021 pic.twitter.com/O0L3y6OBLl
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) September 8, 2021
Ravichandran Ashwin’s big revelation: ‘I contemplated retirement, people were insensitive towards my injuries’
