Ravichandran Ashwin: "I told my wife that the Australia series could become my last series"
Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently revealed that he feared he would have to take early retirement from international cricket last December and had to change his bowling action to continue playing for India.
Ashwin has carried a nagging knee injury for a long time. He said that during the second Test against Bangladesh it began swelling and he made the decision of scrapping the action that gave him immense success for about five years.
"When I came back from Bangladesh, I told my wife that the Australia series could become my last series," Ashwin told The Indian Express. "I used to have some knee issues. I told [her] I am going to change my action because it really got a lot of momentum and with that when I was landing, my knee was buckling a little bit."
"By the second Test (in Bangladesh) it started to pain. It was really swelling up," the 36-year-old added. "So just thinking okay, how do I do this? Because I bowled really well for three-four years, right? To change my action, it’s got to be the most stupid and ridiculous thing to do. So I came back and said, listen, there’s a lot of load on the knee, it’s time to change and I’m going to go back to my action that used to bowl in 2013-14."
Ashwin said he took injections and practised for only three or four days with the new action before the first Test against Australia, without any match practice after the change.
"On the first day of the Test, I didn’t even feel like a bowler for three to four overs but I was able to get on with it because of the awareness I have," he said.
Performance-wise, there was no difference from the off-spinner as he picked up 25 wickets in four Tests at an average of 17.28 and bagged the Player of the Series award.
"I don’t think there can be a greater challenge in life" - Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin stated that he is proud of himself not just because of the award but because he had the courage to not settle for 15 or 16 wickets. He claimed that he put his career at risk and took the greatest challenge there is for a bowler.
"Looking back, I feel so proud of having done that at 36. If I can change my action and put my career at stake, I don’t think there can be a greater challenge in life. A lot of people tend to get insecure. They don’t want to do something else and fail. It is very easy for me to play another four tests with the same action, maybe pick up 15, or 16 wickets, and not feel good about myself."
Ashwin, who was not selected for the World Test Championship Final against Australia, is currently plying his trade in the Tamil Nadu Premier League for Dindigul Dragons.