R Ashwin's father, Ravichandran, revealed that the Indian off-spinner’s mother, Chitra, wanted their son to pursue spin bowling, and when he switched to off-spin, it turned out to be magical for him.

Ashwin achieved a historic milestone by dismissing Zak Crawley on Day 2 of the ongoing third Test against England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. The Indian off-spinner became the second Indian bowler after Anil Kumble to reach the 500-wicket mark in Test cricket.

Ravichandran was quoted as saying by The Indian Express: “The biggest turning point in Ashwin’s career was when he switched to bowling off-spin. And I must thank my wife Chitra for that decision. Those days Ashwin had wheezing and he also had an issue with his knee.”

He added, “So to do all the running (he started off as a medium pacer) was proving to be a challenge. It was Chitra who said, ‘why should you run so much. Just take a few steps and bowl spin’.”

Ravichandran signed off by saying, “Speaking to him, I don’t get the feeling that 500 wickets meant the world to him. Of course, it is a huge milestone, but it isn’t everything. It is an achievement yes, but it is not a number that overly excites him.”

Notably, Ashwin dedicated his 500th Test scalp to his father after the end of the second day of the ongoing Rajkot Test. However, the all-rounder had to withdraw from the third Test due to personal medical emergency.