When I came back from Bangladesh, I told my wife that the Australia series could become my last series: Ravichandran Ashwin

Not too long ago, veteran India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin felt his career was over due to a nagging knee injury. The 36-year-old had even told his wife, Prithi Narayanan, that the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy could become his last. 

Ashwin stated that he was quite proud of what he has accomplished in his life, not because of wickets or runs, but because of his ability to reinvent himself on a constant basis. The legendary spin wizard also stated that insecurity is a major issue for cricketers as they age. Additionally, Ashwin said that it's how cricketers get trapped as they get older and more experienced; one wants to grasp onto something so tightly that they end up breaking their own.

"I'm very proud of what I've done in my life not just because of wickets or runs. But how consistently I have been to able to reinvent myself. One thing that really plagues cricketers or anybody as they grow old is insecurity. For me, it's how cricketers get locked when they get older and when they get experienced; you want to hold on to something so tight, that you eventually end up breaking your own neck," Ashwin told The Indian Express.

Concerning his knee, Ashwin stated that when he returned from the Bangladesh series, he told his wife that the home series against Australia would be his last. The 36-year-old further revealed that he told her that he intends to adjust his action because it gained a lot of momentum, and as a result, his knee was collapsing somewhat when he landed.  

"When I came back from Bangladesh, I told my wife that the Australia series could become my last series. I used to have some knee issues. I told I am going to change my action because it really got a lot of momentum and with that when I was landing, my knee was buckling a little bit. I hadn't done enough workload because of the T20 World Cup but I was not just not happy with the way the ball was coming, it was just scrambling a little bit here," Ashwin added.

Furthermore, Ravichandran Ashwin said that by the second Test in Bangladesh, his knee was hurting and swelling up. Moreover, he also iterated that he had bowled extremely well for the past three or four years and that not bowling would be a very silly and ridiculous move. So he decided to make some changes to his action to alleviate the knee discomfort, and it worked.

The no. 1 Test bowler went on to say that he afterwards went to the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore to recover from the injury. Thereafter, the Indian spinner began bowling, which relieved his knee pain, and practiced for three to four days in Nagpur before entering the Test match without having played a single game with that action. Besides, Ravichandran Ashwin expressed he felt happy to win the Player of the Series award, remarking it as one of the best series he had ever played in the last four-five years.