Ravichandran Ashwin took giant strides in his cricketing career courtesy his exploits in the Indian Premier League. But not many are aware of the fact that Ashwin had once received a ‘hard slap’ while playing for the Chennai Super Kings.
Speaking to cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar for ESPN Cricinfo, Ashwin shed light on the time when he was dropped from the playing XI after successive failure in the year 2010. Furthermore, he also spoke about how it led to having issues with head coach Stephen Fleming.
People thought I think highly of myself: Ravichandran Ashwin
“People thought that I think highly of myself but the flattening of the curve happened when I played in the IPL. It was like a slap in the face like ‘listen boss you are not even here. I thought bowling in a T20 game was much easier than bowling in a first-class game,” Ashwin said in a candid chat.
He was indicating to the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where Mark Boutcher and an in-form Robin Uthappa sent him for leather hunt. Ashwin recalled that he was looking to take wickets and didn’t expect to be at the receiving end.
Ravichandran Ashwin on getting dropped, issues with coach Stephen Fleming
“I didn’t get wickets but went for 40 or 45 runs and put my team into a hole as the next game went into Super Over and we lost it and I was dropped from the squad. It felt like a hard slap,” the 33-year-old said.
The Tamil Nadu spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said he had to leave the hotel and watch his team play from home as he was not part of the scheme of things for the coming games. He said the franchise used to keep the top 18 in the camp and the rest of the players would head home during the home games.
It came as a reality check for the tweaker as he was expected to be in the XI. It was around the same time when the spinner was named in the 30-man probable list for the World T20.
He admitted not having a great rapport with coach Fleming and cited the communication gap as the reason.
“Actually, I had an issue with Stephen Fleming that he didn’t have a chat. I valued him so much and he didn’t have a chat. So I was sitting at home watching CSK games and making promises in my head that one day I will turn the tide,” Ravichandran Ashwin said.
Ashwin hasn’t been part of the ODI team since 2017. However, he has been prolific in the red-ball format, having picked 365 wickets in 71 Tests.