New Delhi, December 21
A tribute from Ravichandran Ashwin's wife, Prithi, has become the most touching highlight of the flood of messages pouring in since the cricket legend announced his retirement earlier this week.
The cricketing world was taken by surprise on Wednesday morning when Ashwin walked in with skipper Rohit Sharma to the post-match press conference after the Brisbane Test between India and Australia ended in a draw.
Even before Ashwin's announcement, the signs were there. His emotional moment with stalwart Virat Kohli in the dressing room was caught on one of the cameras.
"It has been a blurry two days for me. I have been thinking about what I can say.. Do I put this down as a tribute to my all-time favourite cricketer? Maybe I'll just take the partner angle? Or maybe a love letter from a fan girl? I guess this is a little bit of all of it," Prithi wrote on Instagram.
Ashwin's announcement was brief and quite simple. He walked with an air of calmness and simply stated, "I don't want to make it about myself. This is my last day as an international cricketer. I've had a lot of fun. I have made a lot of memories alongside Rohit [Sharma] and several of my team-mates, even though we've lost some of them [to retirements] over the last few years. We're the last bunch of OGs, we can say that. I will be marking this as my date of having played at this level"
"When I saw Ashwins PC, I thought of small and big moments. Many many memories over the last 13-14 years. The big wins, the MOS awards, the quiet silence in our room after an intense game, the sound of the shower running for much longer than usual on some evenings post-play, the scratch of pencil over paper as he scribbled thoughts down, the constant streaming of footage videos when he is making a game plan, the calm of meditative breathing before leaving for each game, certain songs playing on repeat while he unwinds.. The times we weeped in joy - after the CT final, after the MCG win, after the Sydney draw, The Gabba win, after making a comeback in T20s...the times we sat in silence and the times when we had our hearts broken," she added.
"Dear Ashwin, from not knowing how to put a kit bag together to following you to stadiums all over the world, rooting for you, watching you and learning from you, it has been an absolute pleasure. The world you introduced me to gave me the privilege to watch and enjoy a sport that I love from close quarters. It also showed me how much passion, hardwork and discipline is needed to keep your head above water. And sometimes even that is not enough. I remember us talking about why you, R Ashwin, had to do all of this and a lot more to even stay relevant in the scheme of things," she continued.
The spin all-rounder has several accolades to his name, but some truly establish why he is considered a match-winner for India. He has been adjudged Player of the Series 11 times during his Test career -- joint-best alongside Muttiah Muralitharan.
The crafty ball-tweaker finished his international career with 765 scalps across formats, the second-highest for India, only behind Anil Kumble (953). His tally of 537 wickets for India in Test cricket is also second only to Anil Kumble (619).
"How awards, the best of stats, the POMs, the accolades, the records didn't matter if you didn't sharpen your skill sets constantly and did not put in the work. Sometimes, nothing is enough. As you end your wonderful international run, I only want to tell you that it's all good. It is all going to be good. It is time to set the burden of being you down. Live life on your terms, make space for those extra calories, make time for your family, make time to do absolutely nothing, share memes all day, create a new bowling variation, bug our kids out of their minds. Just do it all," she concluded.