Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently opened up about how Team India captain Rohit Sharma supported him during the Rajkot Test against England when he was feeling low due to his mother’s health as well. Ashwin shared that while MS Dhoni also takes care of his players, Rohit takes extra care of their well-being.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said, “In such a selfish society, a man who thinks about someone else’s well-being is a rarity. My respect for him grew tremendously after that. I already had my respect for him as a leader; he backs a player without question until the last moment. It isn’t an easy thing. Even Dhoni does that. But he takes 10 steps more. When it gets this personal, a player can give a life for him.”
Applauding Rohit Sharma’s captaincy skills and suggesting that he deserves a lot more success because he has a good heart, Ashwin added:
“I just thought, even if I were a captain, I’d tell my players to go back home. No second thoughts about it. But will I be calling people to check up on him? No idea. Unbelievable. I am seeing an outstanding leader in Rohit Sharma. I’ve played with so many leaders and captains in all these years, but it is his good heart that has made him what he is today —someone with five IPL titles as equal to Dhoni. God doesn’t give it easy. He should get something bigger than all that, which God will give him.”
“I didn’t know how those two hours on the flight went by,” Ashwin continued. “Rohit did something else. Kamlesh, the team physio, is a very good friend of mine. Rohit told Kamlesh to fly with me to Chennai and be with me. He was one of the two physios on the team, and I convinced him to stay back here. When I went down, the security and Kamlesh were waiting. Kamlesh got a call from Rohit on our ride towards the airport, checking up on me and literally asking him to be with me during this tough time. It was 9.30 pm that night. I was just gobsmacked. I cannot even think about it. Because the two people there are the only ones that I could talk to here. What if nobody was there?”
Notably, Ravichandran Ashwin did not take the field on Day 3 of the Rajkot Test as he left for Chennai to be with his mother, who collapsed after a headache. However, he rejoined the team on Day 4 as well. This is also noteworthy that, when he wanted to return to Rajkot to rejoin the team, BCCI secretary Jay Shah arranged a charter flight for him. Even, Rohit Sharma also tried to arrange a charter flight for him when he had to reach Chennai as well.
However, Ravichandran Ashwin did well with the ball throughout the five-match Test series against England. He also played his 100th Test and completed 500 wickets in the longer format. With 26 wickets, he finished as the leading wicket-taker in the series as well.
“It takes a day to get to Rajkot from Chennai by flight. But the secretary, Jay Shah, asked me to be at the airport at 7 AM and arranged a flight for me. The flight reached there by 11 because it was pretty slow because of headwinds and tailwinds. I didn’t know what to do. Rohit and Rahul Bhai came to my room, and Rohit literally asked me to stop thinking anymore and leave to be there with the family, and he was trying to arrange a charter flight for me,” Ravichandran Ashwin concluded.
