‘I have understood life a lot better’ - Ravichandran Ashwin opens up on ‘closure tweet’ after WTC final loss

The World Test Championship final (WTC) 2023 ended in heartbreak for team India, as they recently lost the tie to Pat Cummins-led Australia. It is safe to say that India were dominated by the Aussies across the five days that they played in. 

Following the loss, India came under a lot of scrutiny from fans and pundits alike. From questions being raised about the execution of the strategies to the team composition, the media was as brutal as ever as the ICC trophy drought continued. One of the biggest talking points from the game was the exclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing XI.

Ashwin had been influential for India throughout the cycle and was crucial to the side reaching the final, but the veteran all-rounder did not play against Australia, which raised a truckload of questions. After the loss, Ashwin himself took to Twitter to congratulate Australia and thanked the fans and the support staff for their rock solid support despite the loss.

Recently, the 36-year-old explained that the tweet was just a way of getting closure. "The moment, the final finished I put out a tweet because I realised one thing is that I need closure. The moment I get the closure I can move on. There is no time to hang around. I have understood life a lot better now," Ashwin told Indian Express. 

Everybody on the outside is irrelevant: Ashwin

Furthermore, the No.1 Test bowler also reflected on how the game of cricket takes a toll on the mental health of his family members, especially his father. He opined that where he has some control over the game by playing in it, his father, who is a heart patient, does not have that luxury.

"The more I see it, the kind of trauma toll it takes on my family is incredible. My father has a heart problem and other issues. Every single game, every single day, something happens, he will call me. He is stressed. It’s very easy for me to go out and play because it is still in my control. For my father, it is not and he goes through double of what I do. So looking at this in hindsight, everybody on the outside is irrelevant," Ashwin said.