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‘Everybody said if Ashwin plays, India will win the World Cup’
Ashwin revealed how the attention given to him by the media and fans ahead of his World Cup debut spurred the off-spinner to give his best in the two matches he played in the 2011 WC.
R Ashwin made his India debut in 2010 but it wasn’t until his performances at the 2011 World Cup that the off-spinner really began to make heads turn. Ashwin, who had played seven ODIs was drafted in India’s World Cup squad, but got his first game against West Indies – India’s sixth of the campaign, where he picked up 2 wickets for 41 runs as India won the match by 80 runs.
Ashwin revealed how the attention given to him by the media and fans ahead of his World Cup debut spurred the off-spinner to give his best. After South Africa beat India by three wickets, MS Dhoni included Ashwin in the Playing XI against West Indies. He played the high-profile quarterfinal against Australia, and although Ashwin picked up four wickets from two games, his variety in bowling and the kind of wickets he got raised his stocks.
“I remember that World Cup very, very clearly. Every morning I woke up, I wasn’t playing in the XI. I hadn’t played a lot of one-day cricket also leading into the World Cup. I just played a few games but I had performed quite very well, and every day I woke up, the paper would read Ashwin should get a game, Ashwin should be playing so and so forth,” Ashwin told SportsKeeda in an interview.
Over the next five years, Ashwin went on to become India’s premier Test spinners and one of the world’s best. However, the beginning wasn’t as smooth. With Harbhajan Singh operating as India’s No. 1 spinner, Ashwin explained how it was a bit of a spot for the management to include both spinners in the Playing XI, but once he saw the confidence the people of India had in him, it, it egged him on.
“We had Bhajju pa (Harbhajan Singh) who was playing in the XI as well. So, I was finding it very difficult to balance. For me, it was like, I would like to be playing, I want to be playing,” Ashwin said.
“Every cricketer wants to play, but here I am, being told that I must play. So, delivery of the fact saying, Ashwin will play and he will help the team win, sort of told me, if I have to play I need to win the World Cup for the country because everybody had said that I should play and if I play, India will win the World Cup.”
