Ravichandran Ashwin proudly says he answered the call of cricket after bringing down the curtain on his exciting career with India.
The 38-year-old spinner announced his retirement from international cricket after a brilliant 14-yard career in which he took 765 international wickets across all formats and became the seventh highest Test wicket-taker of all time.
Talking only to the Sky Sports Cricket PodcastAshwin revealed how his deep passion for cricket not only took him forward as a player, but gave meaning to his life.
“I gave it my all, despite knowing it wasn't the popular or accepted way,” he said. “My journey is completely mine.
“I've seen a lot of cricketers over the years with great skill and talent, but the ability to explain or teach someone else about something is very special and comes across to people only if they have checked it themselves.
“The amount of research I've had to do to be very successful has left me with a wide variety of experience to be able to say, with confidence, that this is a game I love and which I can study and talk about violently for the rest of My life.
“I have no regrets because I had to do it the hard way, but it left me with the idea that the game is my calling. People get their calling at different times. stages in life but I am happy that this game found me and it has given me the meaning of life.
“I have been playing Test cricket for so long and it has even taught me how to build my life and live. This is the most beautiful thing that has happened to me.”
Ashwin announced his retirement after that India vs Australia draw in Brisbane Testa game he was not selected for.
He revealed that he had considered retiring in the past but finally made the decision when his creativity could no longer be fulfilled.
The cricketer in me is not done, I see myself doing a lot more in the next few years. That tag of being an Indian cricketer can be overwhelming. Now that's off my back, I have a path to explore a lot more over the next few years, as long as my body allows me.
“I've never been one to hold on to things, I've never felt insecure in my life,” he said. “I don't believe I'll have what I have today It's probably one of the things that has kept me going all these years.
“I've always wanted to leave things as casual as possible because I don't believe in people celebrating me, I don't believe in the attention we sometimes get in the India. This is the game that was always ahead of me, everything once.
“I did meditation (retirement) several times. For me, the day I woke up and felt that the creative side of me had no future or direction, that was the day I would give up. I suddenly felt that the creative side didn't have many concepts to explore.”
After ending his career as India's second-highest Test wicket-taker (537) and hitting six hundreds and 14 half-centuries, Ashwin reflected on a momentous moment when it was on England's 2012 tour of India that helped shape him into the player he became.
In the second Test in Mumbai, Ashwin recorded figures of 2-145 and was bowled around the Wankhede Stadium by Kevin Pietersen, who top-scored with 186, as England claimed a 10-wicket victory to balance row.
It left an indelible mark on Ashwin, who said: “I have one regret in my life. I know KP is a very proud man, I have seen him talk a lot about how he brought us down in Mumbai.
“Very early in my career, in the formative years, things on the technical side that went wrong put me on the path to excellence.
“I wanted to include KP every time after that. It's a good solution, but anyone who didn't have a really good defense was someone I liked because I'm very good at picking up players who go out, players who wipe out.
“In that particular series against KP and Alastair Cook, one of my best batsmen, my alignments were so bad.
“For the rest of my career, ever since 2012, it's been about finding different solutions. I'm very grateful for the series going that way, because if it hadn't happened, I probably wouldn't have put myself on the path to being great as a bowler because to be great good as a bowler he is good inside rather than outside.”
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