Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that his planning before match goes to a another level and also he watches a lot of footage before game to find out every possibility with respect to his preparations. Ashwin additionally revealed that during the Australia tour, before the Adelaide Test, he watched a film for eight straight hours and observing every one of these recordings have assisted him with having a superior comprehension of the game and even prior to bowling the ball, he sort of comprehends what shot the batsman will play.
Ashwin told India fielding coach R Sridhar in a video posted on BCCI’s website “Before Adelaide Test, in Australia, I watched footage for eight straight hours. Planning for me goes to a different level. I don’t know why I started doing it but its just that I do not want to leave any stone upturned. Also, I used to watch a lot of footage even before but I think the understanding of the game has gone one step up.”
He added, “What happened during the lockdown was that I have been watching a lot of cricket from the past, like Sachin Tendulkar’s century at Chepauk and all kinds of stuff on Youtube. And I begin to picking up fine queues and think why I haven’t picked all these things and figured all these things and it just struck me. After, I started watching footage differently and once I started watching, it became fun after because I am able to pick batsmen like what they are doing and even before I bowl the ball, I kind of understand what kind of understand what sort of shot they are going to play.”
During the match, Ashwin reached the milestone of 400 Test wickets. Reacting on the same, he said, “Initial feeling? It was quite empty to be honest because we were under tremendous pressure today. As today we only got a 30-run lead and the game was in the balance. I was in the moment, and only after we took the DRS, I realised the 400-wicket. After they flashed the 400 wickets on the board, the entire stadium was up and everyone was applauding. I cannot say exactly how I feel.”
“I accidentally became a cricketer. I am a cricket lover who actually went on to become a cricketer. I am living my dream here. I never imagined I will wear the Indian jersey and play. For someone who loves the game so much, what better it can be to come and play the game,” he said.
Ashwin added, “Every time I finish playing a match and if I get that winning result for the team, I just feel like I have been given a blessing. The Covid 19 times made me feel how lucky I’m to actually play in India. Even when I came back from the IPL, I never thought I will play in Australia. That is why I said that everything has been a gift, for the love with which I play, I think the match is giving me back.”
Sridhar told Ashwin that it looks like “you are giving former captain MS Dhoni a run for his money” in terms of the collection of stumps.
Ashwin replied, “I think MS Dhoni has lot more than I do. For a large part of my early career, I haven’t been a very good at all this. Now I appreciate every moment. It has been very special and I have been collecting stumps.”
