‘Sounded broken, took 20-25 minutes to process’ - Ashwin's wife reveals how he reacted to mother's illness during Rajkot Test

Ravichandran Ashwin showed immense courage during the third Test between India and England in the ongoing five-match series. He was allowed to leave the team midway during the Test to attend to his mother, who was in the ICU. The legendary off-spinner rushed to Chennai before rejoining the team on Day 4.

Ashwin had become the first Indian cricketer after Anil Kumble and the second-fastest after Muttiah Muralitharan, to take 500 Test wickets, a landmark he achieved on Day 2 of the third Test in Rajkot. Little did he know that instead of beign abel to reflect on the momentous achievement, he would have to rush to Chennai where his mother, Chitra, was battling illness.

Prithi Narayanan, Ashwin's wife, recently narrated the turn of events that transpired on Friday, February 16.

"Unlike the excitement around his 100th Test, as a family we were very cocooned when he was on 499 wickets. That was because Ashwin did not talk about it. During Rajkot, the kids had just got back from school when five minutes later, he got to 500. And soon, all of us were on the phone answering all the congratulatory messages," Prithi wrote in a column for The Indian Express.

"It was then that I heard a sudden scream from aunty as she collapsed, and in no time we were at the hospital. At that point, we had decided not to tell Ashwin because there wasn’t good flight connectivity between Chennai and Rajkot," she added.

Prithi revealed that Cheteshwar Pujara and his family came to her aid after she had called the star batter and informed him about the tragic incident involving her mother-in-law. She also thanked India captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Rahul Dravid and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for supporting the Ashwin family during their moment of crisis.

"So I dialled Cheteshwar Pujara and his family were of great help. And once we found a way out, I called up Ashwin because after the scans, the doctor suggested it was better to have her son around. Over the phone, he sounded so broken and hung up. It took another 20-25 minutes to process what I told him and for him to call back. And thanks to Rohit (Sharma), Rahul bhai (Dravid) and the others in the team and the BCCI — who followed up all the way till he reached here — he got here late at night," Prithi noted.

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Prithi went on to speak about Ashwin's passion for the Indian team and also his yearning to spend time with his parents.

"It was a very emotional moment for him to see his mom in the ICU. And after she stabilised, we asked him to rejoin the team. Given his personality, he would never leave a game like that. And he would have an extreme amount of guilt if he didn’t win the game for his team. Through those couple of days, I realised his yearning for time with his parents is a lot more now and it is coming with age and maturity," she added.

Ashwin, who has picked up 17 wickets in four games against England in the ongoing series, will be playing his 100th Test match when the two cricketing giants lock horns in the fifth Test in Dharamsala, beginning on Thursday, March 7.

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