After proving his worth with the ball in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, senior Indian cricketer R Ashwin played a key role for the visitors in pulling off a memorable draw against the Aussies on the final day of the 3rd Test. After Ashwin – who along with Hanuma Vihari, helped India draw the Test match, the off-spinner’s wife Prithi Ashwin took to Twitter to reveal the pain he overcame to produce one of the most memorable partnerships in the history of Indian cricket.
In a tweet regarding the same, Prithi Ashwin said, “The man went to bed last night with a terrible back tweak and in unbelievable pain. He could not stand up straight when he woke up this morning. Could not bend down to tie his shoe laces. I am amazed at what @ashwinravi99 pulled off today.”
https://twitter.com/prithinarayanan/status/1348542761134301185?s=20
As Ashwin played a patient knock against Australia’s world-class bowler, Prithi kept her fans busy by sharing what was going through her mind in a series of tweets. Writing for The Indian Express, Prithi also revealed what was her younger daughter’s reaction to Ashwin waking up in pain ahead of the final day’s play.
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Seeing Ashwin in pain, his four-and-a-half-year-old daughter said “Put leave, appa! Why go to the office in pain, when you can chill at home?!” On a lighter note, Prithi herself had an advice for Ashwin. “Ask for a snack break in two hours and come back – like kids do at school” to which Ashwin responded, “Overaaa Oturrey! (You are pulling my leg a bit too much!).”
Had it not been for Prithi’s tweet, some of the cricket fans would not have known about the severity of Ashwin’s pain. The talk mostly was around Vihari, who suffered an injury on his hamstring early in his innings and still went on to play one of the most fighting knocks in Test cricket.
https://twitter.com/prithinarayanan/status/1343767651005255681?s=20
In her column, Prithi also wrote how the couple got emotional after Ashwin came back to his room to meet his family, only temporarily, as he had to go back to the physio for treatment.
Elaborating the same, Prithi said, “I would never forget the surreal moment when Ashwin walked into the room that evening. We laughed, we cried, we laughed. And we howled. It wasn’t an euphoric cry – that was after the Melbourne win in the second Test. That had a different feel. I had rarely seen him that light, that bouncy, that delirious. This was something different. We were howling. It was utter relief – a draining out of emotions from our system.”
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Reacting to the drawn Test match, Ashwin later wrote in a tweet: “Doesn’t matter if you are bruised and battered, just hang in there and you will have an opportunity to fight another day!! Test cricket teaches you life!! #SydneyTest A big thanks to my team and well wishers.”
Doesn’t matter if you are bruised and battered, just hang in there and you will have an opportunity to fight another day!! Test cricket teaches you life!! #SydneyTest 🙏🙏 A big thanks to my team and well wishers. 🤩 pic.twitter.com/nBk50tZMK4
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 11, 2021
There’s no clarity over Ashwin’s will be able to feature in the playing XI as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not announce India’s playing XI for the Gabba Test. Depending on the recovery of the players, the playing XI will only be announced at the toss.
