Ravichandran Ashwin Recalls The Incident When His Commitment To Study Was Questioned
Jan 6, 2017 at 9:47 PM
Ravichandran Ashwin is currently ruling Test cricket with his extraordinary bowling prowess. The No. 1 Test bowler and all-rounder has become the toast of the nation after playing a pivotal role in the Indian’s teams rise to the top of Test cricket.
However, the sun did not shine brightly on him always as the off-spinner had to overcome his fair share of hurdles before becoming one of the mainstays of the Indian team. And the struggle began right from the early days when a young boy full of dreams was struggling to strike a balance between studies and cricket.
Interacting with the media after signing a deal with Sports consulting and talent management solutions company ITW Consulting Private Ltd, the Tamil Nadu ace recalled several incidents that compelled him to work hard and achieve his dream.
Recalling an incident from his college days, Ashwin revealed how his commitment as an engineering student was questioned by his HoD when he went to the professor to seek permission to appear in the examination after finding it out that his eligibility for the final exams was in doubt.
The HoD had said:“An engineer is someone who goes and works and it is deserved by so many other people on the streets and you seem to have actually played cricket, come on your free time to college and become an engineer.If you deserve to be an engineer, you need to put in the hard yards. What have you done to be eligible for this engineering degree.”
But fortunately, Ashwin did not have to look far for motivation as his mother was their to give him a reality check.
“If you don’t improve, you won’t get very far in life. But if you don’t change, you don’t give yourself a chance to improve,” she had said.
Ashwin recalled another incident that had happened on the Australia tour in 2014 which played an integral role in his remarkable turnaround. Ashwin was the bowling mainstay of the team but his overseas record did not reflect his true potentials and the team management finally had to replace him with Karn Sharma for the Adelaide Test.
Recalling the match, the off-spinner said: “The fact that I played the previous Test match in England, I just assumed that I would play the next Test match. It was a kick on my backside to tell me that I was not good enough.”
The off-spinner’s bowling is now on a different level altogether. He has finished the last two years as the leading Test wicket-taker in Tests and his phenomenal exploits has seen him bagging the ICC Cricketer of the Year and ICC Test Cricketer of the Year 2016 awards.
Speaking further on how one can improve, he said:“Change and improvement are directly proportional, one cannot exist or happen without the other. If I have to change and if I’ve decided to change, improvement is just around the corner. But if I look to improve, change is inevitable”