‘Never imagined I will wear the Indian jersey’: Ashwin reveals he ‘accidentally became a cricketer’

After the completion of the third Test, Ashwin had a one-on-one session with fielding coach R Sridhar inside the dressing room. The veteran off-spinner revealed that he is a 'cricket lover’ who ‘accidentally became a cricketer’.

Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday became the second-fastest bowler to scalp 400 wickets in Test cricket. He scalped three wickets in the first innings and four in the second to return with a match haul of 7 wickets in the pink-ball Test against England as India went 2-1 up in the four-match series.

Ravichandran Ashwin (BCCI/Twitter)

After the completion of the third Test, Ashwin had a one-on-one session with fielding coach R Sridhar inside the dressing room. The veteran off-spinner revealed that he is a 'cricket lover’ who ‘accidentally became a cricketer’.

“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.

“Every time I finish playing a game and if I get that winning result for the team, I just feel like I have been given a blessing. The COVID-19 (pandemic) times made me feel how lucky I am to actually play for India. Even when I came back from the IPL, I never thought I will play in Australia. That is why I said everything has been a gift, for the love with which I play, I think the game is giving me back,” he added.

Sridhar told Ashwin that it seems like he is ‘giving MS Dhoni a run for his money' in terms of the collection of stumps.

“I think MS has a lot more than I do. For a large part of my early career, I have not been very good at all this. Now I cherish every moment. It has been very special and I have been collecting stumps,” Ashwin replied.

After taking a 2-1 lead in the series, India will lock horns with England in the fourth and the final Test which begins on March 4 at the same venue.