Premier India off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, on Thursday (June 4) said he started off "okay" with regards to the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown, but has now begun feeling "itchy" and desperate to go out and resume on-field play.
Ashwin, like the rest of his Indian teammates, hasn't been able to practise and play any form of competitive cricket since March because of the worldwide shutdown amid the pandemic.
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For sportspersons, especially, it must be really difficult to be away from the regular routine of their sporting life for so long.
"Initially I felt like I was okay, but now I’m getting really itchy, I want to go out and play, or do something like that, I am getting really itchy inside the house," said Ashwin during an online conversation with Sadhguru.
Ashwin has been spending time with his family, adhering to the individual fitness programme designed by the team management for all players as per the space and equipment available to them.
The 33-year-old also just recently finished his Instagram live show 'Reminisce with Ash', where he got multiple famous personalities from cricket and non-cricket fields to chat with him and re-connect with the fans.
Ashwin has himself been on other online shows as well. In one of them, he opened up on the perceptions regarding his attitude among people who have been watching him from the outside.
"People might think that I am arrogant because sometimes it's not their way of life. I am too straight. A lot of people, in the last 10-11 years, have given me the feedback saying that you should try and be a little diplomatic because straight trees are cut first," Ashwin had told sports broadcaster Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan on 'The RK Show'.
"But I chose to tread a path that I am comfortable with. When there is a question posed to me, I answer that question. I don't see what answer will fit the brand value."
"If people don’t agree with me they can call me rebellious but that’s just the way people think. I am completely okay with it. If you don’t have rebellious people out there, if you don’t have people who think for themselves, it’s going to be very hard to put history out there," added the premier India off-spinner, who has played 71 Tests for 365 wickets at 25.4.
"For me, when I communicate something it’s genuinely heartfelt. It’s not with a perception of trying to win brownie points. I have been very earnest and I stand for who I am."
(Quotes from PTI and CricketNext)
