Ace Indian spinner R Ashwin has said that a statement made by current India coach Rahul Dravid when he first met him, has helped him throughout his cricketing journey, highlighting that he brainwashed him into not bothering about personal milestones and rather focusing on creating memories as a team.
Ashwin, who had made his Test debut in 2011 when Dravid was still playing for India, picked his 33rd Test fifer on day one of the first Test against West Indies in Dominica on July 12, 2023 and also completed 700 wickets in international cricket.
Ashwin reflected on his professional career which he feels has gone by ‘so fast’ that he can hardly recall anything from it.
“Actually, when I look back at my career, I wonder how it’s gone by so fast. It’s been literally 14 years on the go and if you include IPL also, it’s been almost a 15-16 years journey. It’s just gone like that. All I would tell anybody is… the first time I met Rahul Dravid as a coach, he made this statement: ‘It’s not about how many wickets you take, how many runs you score. You’ll forget about all of them. It is only the great memories you create as a team that’ll stick with you,'" Ashwin said in a video shared by BCCI after end of day one.
“I’m totally behind that. I don’t know if he’s brainwashed me to do that. From my point of view, I definitely think that this journey has gone so fast that I’m not even able to recollect what has happened, and how it has gone through," Ashwin added.
Ashwin also said that he is grateful for the journey he has had in cricket and what the game has given him.
“I’ve got a lot of gratitude and I’m very grateful for the journey and what the game has given to me. I don’t know how many more such moments will come to me, but whatever comes my way, I’ll try to enjoy it completely," he added.
Ashwin says once cricket resume during the covid pandemic, he promised to enjoy everything that came his way.
“After Covid when cricket began again, I promised myself that I’ll enjoy whatever happens… whether I’m playing, getting dropped or if I’m retiring. Whatever happens, I will enjoy it," he said.
(BCCI inputs)
