Ashwin hasn't given up on his white-ball career and looked back at the disappointment of Southampton.
Having been an integral part of India's scheme of things across all formats a year back, Ravichandran Ashwin is coming to terms with how, perhaps, he has been left behind by the current trends in the limited overs game - where wrist spin rules the roost now - and is dealing with the pressure, expectations, criticism as well as competition, that comes with being a Test specialist.
"I think everything happens for a reason, for good," he reflected in an interview with THE WEEK, "It has given me time to really reflect on my cricket. There is only so much I can control. For me, it has been the journey of self-realization," and said, "It gave me time to understand what I have done in my career till now and what I will do in future. I need to tell myself I am a very good cricketer. And to find joy, I must take pride in what I do."
Though Ashwin feels, "At this point of time, I don’t know where I stand," he is still extremely determined to earn back a place in the white-ball cricket and informed, "I have tried a lot of things in terms of my cricket, yes. I am someone who believes sky is the limit and one can do anything. I have gone on to develop some other new variations. I haven't played a lot of white ball cricket, yes," before emphasizing, "but whoever has followed my white ball cricket has seen me bowl leg-spin in club and Vijay Hazare matches. I went on and developed a slider."
Ashwin, who started off brilliantly in England with a magnificent performance of 7/121 in the first Test at Edgbaston, found himself really struggling to get going after that due to a hip injury. It culminated with that widely criticized failure to run through England on Day 3 at Southampton, where on a turning pitch he returned with figures of 1/83 in the 2nd innings and on the other hand Moeen Ali picked up match figures of 9/134 to help England win the series even before the final Test at The Oval.
When asked what made him play that Test despite struggling with a niggle, Ashwin said, "How many times will you get an opportunity to make it 2-2, for your team? We were down 2-1 (in the series). We had won the third Test, and here was an opportunity to make it 2-2 for the team," he expressed, "That’s what you play for. That's what we all played for. I am not someone who makes excuses. When we went into the Test, the intention was to make it 2-2."
Looking ahead to the future now, Ashwin thinks, "I put constant pressure on myself and wasted a lot of energy in the past. I will look to just relax and focus on what I am doing, and not set any goals. The process is important. And properly following it, too," he signed off with, "As for selection, let people equipped to do the job take care of it. It is just matter of being at the right place, at the right time."