The R Ashwin I know: A cricketer who achieved greatness – a person who remained true to his roots

There has never been any smokescreen around Ashwin. He has never donned a mask to display different faces. The player Ashwin is a cricketing great. But Ashwin the individual has remained the same, accessible at all times, never forgetting to call back. He has been a superstar in every sense, but never came across as one. The faces around him at Ramakrishnapuram 1st street have remained constants right through his journey. Even his better half Prithi happens to be his classmate from school. Like countless boys in Chennai, he has endured long bus rides to study engineering in a college on the outskirts. Nothing has come easy to him. And he values those who put in hard work. When he learnt about a pacer who was struggling to make ends meet, he opened doors for him by finding the youngster a club to play in, thereby helping the pacer earn his Tamil Nadu cap in two years. In a competitive PR-driven world, he never put his fellow cricketers down. If anything, he went the extra mile to defend teammates.

Ashwin remains a quintessential Chennaiite. In conversations, he will seamlessly slip in popular movie dialogues to crack a joke or two on himself or others. But it is never personal. A movie buff, on tours, one could find him trying to catch first-day-first shows of his favourite Rajinikanth or Vijay movies or ask for movie or series suggestions. He would even inquire about the hot spots in Chennai to visit. But as his wife revealed in this newspaper earlier this year, all of it only remains on his to-do list. Perhaps, now that he will have the time, one can expect him to catch up on these.

Following Covid, one got to see a different side to Ashwin. In the months spent in lockdown, like many others, he too, had been gripped by fear. But it was the time when his magnanimity shone through. When the 2020 IPL was on in the UAE, as several journalists, including cricket writers, lost their jobs in pandemic-induced layoffs, Ashwin heard about it and reached out to know if he could be of any assistance. “Do not hesitate to tell me if somebody needs help,” he would say, even offering to hire people for his YouTube channel. He kept his word, too, giving a 30-year-old desperate for opportunities, a job.

Among his many old-school traits was also the belief that cricket wouldn’t be the game it is without sports journalists. Despite his busy, unforgiving schedule, he would make time to meet the local press often. He understood our needs. In return, he expected only accountability. After he had taken India home in a tight run-chase against Bangladesh in the Mirpur Test, I’d written a story on why Ashwin wasn’t considered for leadership roles despite being the team’s biggest match-winner in the past decade. Among the reasons listed out was that he was seen as an over-thinker by decision makers. That evening he called to say he differed from my opinion but he never brought it up again. He was among those who agreed to disagree.

The other fascinating aspect that I’ve admired about him is his interest in keeping abreast of things around the sport in general. There have been instances where Ashwin has called up in the middle of an India tour to enquire about scores or how the pitch was behaving in a Ranji match I was covering. It is a habit that continues to date, where he follows not just the Tamil Nadu team scores, but also keeps a close eye on his Chennai club matches. It is not surprising that he will go back to his roots and play club cricket after quitting international cricket. With Ashwin, one expected no different.

venkatakrishna.b@expressindia.com