India’s premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recalls his first meeting with the wall & head coach Rahul Dravid, Ravichandran Ashwin recalls how head coach Rahul Dravid asked him to focus on team achievements rather than his records.
In the ongoing test match against the hosts West Indies, Ravichandran Ashwin surpassed England’s James Anderson, taking his 33rd 5-wicket haul, taking his total tally of wickets to 479. Ashwin is now in 6th position in the list of most 5-wicket hauls, which is led by Sri Lankan maestro Muttiah Muralitharan.
Rahul Dravid brainwashed me- Ravichandran Ashwin
The star bowler revealed that Rahul Dravid may have brainwashed him by asking him to focus on team memories rather than personal milestones. In an interaction with the media, after taking 5 wickets on Day 1 of the first test against the West Indies, Ashwin reflected on his career of 16 years, which according to him went past very fast.
“Actually when I look back at my career, I wonder how it’s gone by so fast. It’s been literally 14 years on the go and if you include IPL also, it’s been almost a 15-16 years journey. It’s just gone like that,” said Ravichandran Ashwin.
“All I would tell anybody is… the first time I met Rahul Dravid as a coach, he made this statement: ‘It’s not about how many wickets you take, how many runs you score. You’ll forget about all of them. It is only the great memories you create as a team that’ll stick with you,” he stated.
“I have got lot of gratitude and I’m very grateful for the journey that the game has given me. I don’t know how many such moments would come to me, but whatever comes my way, I’ll try to enjoy it completely.” he added.