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'Like MS Dhoni always said..': R Ashwin recalls former India captain's words; explains how he got over injury 'trauma'
Ashwin recalled the words from former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and insisted that he has “cracked the process.”
India's leading off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is widely considered as one of the best spinners in modern-day cricket. Last month, Ashwin went past Harbhajan Singh to become India's third-highest wicket-taker in Test history. However, the success comes after a fair share of struggles with injury.
Ashwin had been an all-format player for India till 2017, but failed to make a return to the side for many years in ODIs and T20Is. The off-spinner was ruled out for three Tests in the 2018/19 tour of Australia, and had to deal with injury issues on a constant basis until he made a comeback in the home series against South Africa later in 2019/20.
The 35-year-old Team India star opened up on the ‘mental trauma’ he had to go through during the gap in an interview with ‘The Cricket Monthly’.
"I was very nervous for about eight months, ten months. Every match I played. Athletic pubalgia is something that you feel all the time, like, there is some feeling around the abdomen, around the adductor or something. So even if it was like a nerve moved here or there or some stiffness, I'd feel like, "Has it gone? Should I protect it before it's gone? Should I strap it?" That sort of paranoia," Ashwin said.
“I think my self-awareness is very high. And I think a lot. So it was even harder for me. If you get injured, and you're coming back, it'll still be in your head. But if you get injured and go through the kind of mental trauma I had to go through, it is even more difficult. And I think I'm extremely well placed for the experience. I'm very well placed to face the adversities of life, for which I'm grateful.”
Ashwin recalled the words from former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and insisted that he has “cracked the process.”
“It had become a psychological thing. I have never feared failure in my life. So to go out there on the ground and fail in terms of performance, it's fine. Like MS Dhoni always said, it is processes versus result. I believe I certainly have cracked the process. And I don't fear failing in front of millions or billions of people. It means nothing. At least I have got the [opportunity] to go out there and succeed or fail, which most people don't get,” said Ashwin.
The off-spinner further insisted that had more injuries struck him during the South Africa series, he might have left the game. "I was 32 - when probably the prime for a spinner is still ahead of him. I was not ready to throw in the towel. And I felt like I was being asked to, through the failings of my body. If I had broken down again during the South Africa series, I would have said, "This body is not meant to be." Thankfully I got through the entire series."
