Ahead of IPL 2024, R Ashwin opened up on the time he thought of leaving cricket in 2017 because he was clueless about his situation in the white-ball format. Ashwin recently stated that he is a strong character but felt pointless in 2017.
The year was 2017 and the off-spinner had been ruled out of the white-ball side without any clarity offered on his future in the team. “He didn’t know if he was dropped or rested. If someone told Ashwin, ‘Come here, you are not good enough’, he would get out and work on it. But when he was not told why he wasn’t there, I saw him struggling,” his wife, Prithi Ashwin told Indian Express.
“I decided to quit cricket. I was asking myself what would I do. And I said whatever I do in life, I will try to achieve excellence and be as good as I can be in that profession. I would probably try to do an MBA and probably be in marketing,” Ashwin conceded in The Indian Express’ recent Idea Exchange.
It was a conversation that ensued at home with his father that led to the Indian spinner, who recently marked his 100th Test appearance and crossed the 600 Test wickets milestone, even thought of hanging his boots.
“We were having a conversation and my dad said, ‘You know what? You are too upright and honest. That’s why you are getting screwed.’ He made that statement and left. I am not someone who is emotive. I would like to think I am pretty strong but I just locked myself away and cried a lot. I was crying for a long time. I didn’t expect my dad to say that. I don’t think he even realized what he did,” Ashwin shared.
“I used to think that I was burdening the people in my house. I would isolate myself in my room, and it was always dark in there. I also didn’t have any interest in watching cricket either,” he explained. After weighing his options, which included pursuing an MBA and a career in marketing, Ashwin ultimately decided to seek counselling. “It turned out to be a life-changing decision for the better.”