Team India’s veteran off-spinner R Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket following the team’s recently concluded third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) against Australia. The announcement came on Wednesday, December 18 as well. However, Ashwin’s former India and Tamil Nadu teammate Dinesh Karthik shared an interesting story following his retirement as well. He also revealed that at one point, the spinner wanted to bowl like West Indies’ Sunil Narine as well.
Recalling the incident, here’s what Karthik told Cricbuzz: “Once I remember in an Asia Cup game, he said, ‘I want to bowl like Sunil Narine because if he can get away with what he is doing, I want to do it as well.’ He is a man who’s able to push boundaries and do things that people would be very, very reluctant to do. He has never thought twice. He feels that he wants to take every advantage that is there in the book.”
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“He is the greatest-ever cricketer that’s come out from Tamil Nadu. I saw him when he was playing U14, and he was a one-trick pony. He could just bowl fast and flat. From there to becoming an absolute geek and scientist that’ they all call him because of how he is able to innovate and change things in the middle of the game or series. He sets the bar very high for himself. One thing that when you see Ashwin you get is that he is a clever man. He knows that he is doing. He has always used that to his advantage as much as possible. He has pushed the bar in every regard. He has done great things,” he shared.
Dinesh Karthik further shared that R Ashwin could have easily played in Team India’s home matches for another couple of seasons as well. He, however, said that there was a slight dip in his performance, which could have promoted him to take the call.
“He could have easily played another couple of seasons in the home games, nobody would have questioned. Just a series ago he was the Man of the Series. But I personally felt he wasn’t the bowler that he was a couple of years ago and I always felt he would be thinking about it because he is a man who has set very high standards. for himself. I think he has taken the decision at the right time,” Dinesh Karthik concluded.
