I Accidentally Became A Cricketer, I Never Imagined That I Will Wear The Indian Jersey, Says Ravichandran Ashwin

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had admitted that he is a cricket lover who accidentally became a cricketer. His words came after he helped India take a 2-1 lead over England in the ongoing four-match series, earning a 10-wicket win in the third Test in Ahmedabad.

Ravichandran Ashwin had a big match, after his brilliant Man of the Match performance in the second Test in Chennai, where he picked a five-wicket haul and also hit a hundred in the Test match. However, in the third match, Ashwin reached two huge milestones. He completed 600 wickets in international cricket, and also reached the 400 Test wicket milestone as well.

Ravi Ashwin has taken 24 wickets in just 3 Test matches, was in conversation with fielding coach R Sridhar for an interview which the BCCI shared on its official Twitter account. The 34-year-old off-spinner became only the fourth Indian bowler after Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, and Kapil Dev to take 400 wickets in Test matches.

“I accidentally became a cricketer. I am actually a cricket lover who went on to become a cricketer. I am living my dream here, I never imagined that I will wear the Indian jersey one day and I will play. And every time I finish playing a game and if I give that winning result for the team, I just feel I am being given a blessing, but the COVID times made me feel how lucky I am to actually play for India,” Ashwin told bcci.tv in an interview.

The Tamil Nadu bowler says he watched a lot of old videos of individual performances in lockdown to improve the understanding of the game. He mentioned that he likes collecting stumps after winning the matches for India, but still feels that former captain MS Dhoni might have more stumps than him.

“I think MS has a lot more than I do. For a large part of my early career, I have not been very good at all this. Now I cherish every moment. It has been very special and I have been collecting stumps,” Ashwin responded when asked if he is giving MS Dhoni ‘a run for his money’ in that matter.

Also Read: Don’t Add Flavour To Skew Minds: Ravichandran Ashwin Hits Back At A Media House For Politicizing His Cryptic Tweets 

Knows his numbers ?
Watches hours of footage before a game ?
Strives to get better with each game ?

This special feature on @ashwinravi99 is one you don't want to miss ?- by @RajalArora @Paytm #INDvENG #TeamIndia @coach_rsridhar

Full interview ? https://t.co/gTPCIwwgV0 pic.twitter.com/PowZvyjtIT

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 26, 2021