'Content' R Ashwin does not play cricket to answer critics anymore

India spinner R Ashwin has said that he is content with his cricket and does not play it to answer his critics anymore. Ashwin said that he had promised himself 5 years back that he would play the game with a smile on his face.

In Short

• R Ashwin talks about his motivation in playing Test cricket
• The spinner says that he does not play to shut critics anymore
• R Ashwin's performance has been incredible over the last 4 years

Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scored his 6th Test century while playing against Bangladesh in the first Test match. To put things in context, while playing in Chennai, Ashwin became the first ever cricketer in history to score 20+ fifty-plus scores and take 30+ 5-wicket hauls in Test cricket. Ashwin also equalled MS Dhoni and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi's number of hundreds for the Indian Test team.

Ashwin, possibly one of the greatest spinners to have played the game of cricket, had a choppy start to his Test career away from home. 71 wickets in 25 matches in the SENA countries at an average of 40 meant that Ashwin, in his early days, was sort of the player that India would look to drop if there were finding it difficult to make a combination. Say for example, Ashwin has played only 25 Test matches of India's 45 (in SENA) since his debut Test in 2011. Even recently in the 2023 World Test Championship Final, Ashwin was dropped to add to the batting depth of the side, a match that India lost against Australia comprehensively.

While Ashwin unquestionably is India's best ever bowler in home Tests, overseas it seemed for the longest period of time that Ashwin still needed to prove his worth. Does the stop-start nature of the selection bother him anymore, after playing a hundred Test matches? Ashwin replies with a resounding 'No'.

Speaking after Day 2 of the Chennai Test match against Bangladesh, Ashwin said that he was critical of his performances for the longest period of time. Ashwin said that not only was he critical of himself but comments from the outside also bothered him and fuelled him to do better. Ashwin said that there was a sense of peace and victory whenever he was able to reply back with performances, but not anymore.

ASHWIN'S TURNAROUND

The 500 Test wicket veteran revealed that 4-5 years back he promised himself that he would play cricket only for happiness and that changed his outlook towards the game.

And that reflected in his performance. Being free from the mental cage of criticism and doubts meant that Ashwin bowled for his team's sake, playing the role that he had been asked. In the last four years, Ashwin's exploits in SENA have increased dramatically. In the 9 matches that he has played since the start of 2020, Ashwin picked 47 wickets, a massive improvement of 24 wickets from the previous 16 matches.

"I was critical on my performances before but not right now. I put a lot of pressure on myself, a lot of people from the outside put pressure on me as well. I took pride and happiness in replying back with performance but it is not like that anymore. Now it is just about playing cricket with a smile on my face, and living in the moment. Even 4-5 years ago I made this promise to myself that I will only play cricket for my happiness and not to answer back to anyone," Ashwin said at the press conference.

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In the post Covid-19 era, Ashwin has been India's most successful bowler at home. Since 2021, Ashwin has 109 wickets at home nearly double that of the next-best Indian bowler - Ravindra Jadeja - who has 56 wickets.

In the Chennai Test however, Ashwin was not able to pick any wickets in the first innings of the match, instead he hit a century, his 6th in Test cricket, etching his name in his history of Test cricket.

"You want to come and do well every single day and I mean, you you're excelling. You're excelling on a particular day. On that given day, you will take what you get and yeah, I just stayed in the moment and I enjoyed my biting yesterday. I thought I enjoyed it this morning. Also, I've been putting a lot of work on it. Doesn't matter whether it's batting or bowling. Honestly, at this point of time in my career, I just want to be good on that day and probably, you know, be my best," Ashwin said about his game.

The spinner concluded by saying that happiness was the only thing that drove him a the ripe age of 38.

"Happiness. You want to be good, you excel. You feel happy at the end of the day, it drives me towards that, and I feel every time I do. Well, it leaves me in a good, happy state of mind. Uh, that's what that's what you get on this on this journey for, right? You want to do well, you want to excel in the global stage, people are watching you and then you feel happy about it for having been in a contest and coming out successful out of the contest," R Ashwin said.

Ashwin, who has 516 wickets to his name in the red-ball format will be eyeing to clasp a few more in the series vs Bangladesh and New Zealand before flying out to Australia to play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.