Team India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on his mother’s illness and his subsequent journey from Rajkot to Chennai in his latest YouTube video. He hailed Indian captain Rohit Sharma for going out of the way to help him during the tough time. Ashwin also thanked Cheteshwar Pujara for arranging a chartered flight after he couldn’t find any commercial flights to head back to Chennai from Rajkot.
Ashwin became only the second Indian after Anil Kumble to claim 500 wickets in Test cricket during the Rajkot Test. However, his joy was short-lived as he came to know that his mother had been hospitalized in Chennai after having a blackout.
The off-spinner went blank after hearing the news since he wanted to visit his mother, but also knew that leaving midway would leave the team in lurch as they would be one bowler short for the rest of the match. Ashwin eventually returned after visiting his mother and even picked up a wicket in England’s second innings.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, the veteran spinner, who recently played his 100th Test in Dharamsala gave details on what transpired inside the dressing room as he came to know about his mother’s illness and how the captain and coach Rahul Dravid supported him.
"I kind of blanked out. I didn't know how to react, what questions to ask or anything. I was crying, but I was trying to make sure nobody saw me crying. It is unnecessary to think of it that way, but it was instinctive. I just couldn't think. I was crying in my room for some time," he said.
Ashwin explained that he found it strange that nobody from his family called him to congratulate on the 500-wicket feat at close of play. “When I called my wife around 7pm before going to shower when my parents weren't picking up my call, I found her voice was a bit shaky. She asked me to move away from my team-mates before she told me me that my mother had collapsed after a headache," he said.
Ashwin then went on to elaborate how Rohit, Dravid and Pujara supported him during his time of crisis. The last mentioned player managed to arrange a chartered flight since there are no commercial flights from Rajkot after 6:00 PM.
"I was alone in my room and I was not picking up my call somy wife told the team physio to go and check on me. After that Rohit Sharma and Rahul bhai both came to check on me and I just told them that I couldn't think clearly, the 37-year-old said.
“I am part of the XI and the game hangs in the balance. If I leave for home we will have only 10 players fighting against a full-strength England, who had the upper hand then with the series also at 1-1 and if I go then we will a bowler short.
"At the same time, I was on another track thinking of the last time when I spoke with my mother. I just wanted to leave to see her and then come back. I asked how she was and if she was conscious at that time but the doctor apparently told me that she was not in a position to be seen. I lost it," Ashwin continued.
"I was searching for flights, but I couldn't get one. The Rajkot airport closes down at 6pm as there are no flights after that. I didn't know what to do. Rohit and Rahul bhai came to my room. Rohit literally asked me to stop thinking anymore. A big thank you to Cheteshwar Pujara. He somehow found flights in Ahmedabad and made it here to Rajkot for me to travel in,” the spinner concluded.
--By A Cricket Correspondent
