R Ashwin was 'crushed' after Shastri's 'Kuldeep is India's No.1 overseas spinner' comment

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has shed his thoughts about a comment made by India’s former head coach Ravi Shastri and how he felt crushed upon listening to it. Ashwin spoke about many interesting topics about his cricketing career during a recent interview with The Cricket Monthly. On being asked about his take on the comments made by Shastri after Kuldeep Yadav took five wickets in Sydney.

Ashwin revealed he was crushed on listening Shastri say, ‘ Kuldeep is India’s No 1 overseas spinner; and that there is time for everyone. As per the report by The Cricket Monthly, replying to the question, Ashwin said, “I hold Ravi bhai in high esteem. We all do. And I understand we all can say things and then retract them. At that moment, though, I felt crushed. Absolutely crushed. We all talk about how important it is to enjoy your team-mates' success. And I was happy for Kuldeep”. Ashwin further hailed Kuldeep for having a five-for to his name in Australia and mentioned he himself hasn’t been able to achieve the feat.

R Ashwin considered retiring in 2018

During the interview, Ashwin also revealed that he contemplated retiring from cricket during the 2018-20 period. Ashwin was sacked from the limited-overs squad of India, following the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2017. Explaining the same, he said, “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, “ Ashwin further said while adding that he considered retiring for a lot of reasons after the England series in 2018. However, the off-spinner made through the tough time and has since evolved as the leader of India’s spin attack. During India vs New Zealand, two-match Test series, Ashwin overtook Harbhajan Singh to become India’s third-highest wicket-taker in Test matches.

Image: PTI/BCCI