'Are you not taking him in the team' - R Ashwin reveals an incident that changed his life forever

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin gave a testament to his incredible skillset by being the lead architect of India's recent 4-1 domination over England in the five-match Test series. Ashwin reached the landmark of 500 Test wickets while also featuring in a record 100 Test matches for India. 

After finishing as India's leading wicket-taker in the series with 26 scalps, Ashwin is now ready to ply his trade in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) for the Rajasthan Royals.  

Ahead of the new season, Ashwin took a trip down the memory lane of how the seeds of the journey were sown about 16 years ago during a felicitation ceremony at the MA Chidambaram stadium by the Chennai cricket fraternity for his recent feats.

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Ashwin reveals life-changing incident

Ashwin narrated, “In 2008, I was playing a (TNCA first-division) game for Jolly Rovers CC against India Cements (Vijay CC). I picked up six wickets and went back home as Man of the Match. K Srikkanth was the chief guest that night. He picked up the mic and said: ‘Ashwin, you bowled superbly. You should go to Chennai Super Kings and learn from Muttiah Muralitharan’. 

“I was famished because I was not in the (CSK) team. We did not have auctions (for domestic players) at that time. He turned to Kasi (CSK CEO KS Viswanathan) and said: ‘Are you not taking him in the team?’ That particular line changed my life altogether. I received a contract from CSK the next day,” said Ashwin, as the crowd cheered him on."

Ashwin also extended his gratitude to ex-BCCI president N Srinivasan for backing him when he was on the verge of being left out from the Test squad.

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