Veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has played an instrumental role in Team India’s dominance over the years, especially in Test cricket.
In 92 Tests, Ashwin has claimed 474 wickets so far at an average of 23.93, including 32 five-wicket hauls. The ace off-spinner was also part of the Indian team that won the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
However, the journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing. There was a phase in Ashwin's life when injury forced him to think long and hard about his career. In fact, he told his wife Prithi that the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at home earlier this year could be his last.
"I'm very proud of what I've done in my life not just because of wickets or runs. But how consistently I have been to able to reinvent myself. One thing that really plagues cricketers or anybody as they grow old is insecurity. For me, it's how cricketers get locked when they get older and when they get experienced; you want to hold on to something so tight, that you eventually end up breaking your own neck," Ashwin told The Indian Express.
The 36-year-old then opened up about his knee troubles that forced him to change his bowling action.
"When I came back from Bangladesh, I told my wife that the Australia series could become my last series. I used to have some knee issues. I told I am going to change my action because it really got a lot of momentum and with that when I was landing, my knee was buckling a little bit. I hadn't done enough workload because of the T20 World Cup but I was not just not happy with the way the ball was coming, it was just scrambling a little bit here.
"By the second Test (in Bangladesh) it started to pain. It was really swelling up. So just thinking okay, how do I do this? Because I bowled really well for three-four years, right? To change my action, it's got to be the most stupid and ridiculous thing to do. So I came back and said, listen, there's a lot of load on the knee, it's time to change and I'm going to go back to my action that used to bowl in 2013-14," he revealed.
His decision to change the bowling action fortunately worked as he finished the four-match Test series against Australia with 25 scalps, helping India clinch the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
"So I went to Bangalore, I had to take an injection at that point in time, so, I changed my action. I started bowling and my knee pain went away. I practised for three-four days in Nagpur and I went into the Test match without having played a game with that action at all. On the first day of the Test, I didn't even feel like a bowler for three to four overs but I was able to get on with it because of the awareness I have.
"And I am proud of the Player of the Series award. I think that is probably one of the best series I have had and the best bowling performance for me in a series in the last four-five years. I have done a lot of good stuff in the last five years, but still, it felt like that. Looking back, I feel so proud of having done that at 36. If I can change my action and put my career at stake, I don't think there can be a greater challenge in life. A lot of people tend to get insecure. They don't want to do something else and fail. It is very easy for me to play another four tests with the same action, maybe pick up 15, or 16 wickets, and not feel good about myself," Ashwin concluded.
