Rajkot (Gujarat): Star India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who achieved the 500 Test wickets milestone on Friday, asserted that people doubted him whether he could be a good Test bowler when he made his debut in 2011.
Ashwin achieved this feat during the ongoing third Test of the five-match series against England here. The off-spinner was on 499 scalps at the end of the second Test in Visakhapatnam and completed his 500th wicket by dismissing England opener Zak Crawley the second day of the Rajkot.
"I had a reasonable first-class (cricket) start to my life. My first-class career was pretty good. But nevertheless, the stage in the Indian Premier League made me visible to a lot of people and I eventually got my Test debut. People doubted me whether I could be a Test bowler and 10-13 years later not bad, not a bad achievement. I'm pretty glad,” Ashwin told Jio Cinemas.
Ashwin is the second India bowler after legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble to take 500 Test wickets. Kumble has 619 Test wickets. The 37-year-old Ashwin said he has no particular aim of pushing for more and try and get to Kumble's record.
"The very simple answer is no' 120 wickets away. Every day is what I want to live for, and, I'm 37 years old. I don't know what's in store next," Ashwin told the media here after stumps on the second day.
"What's in store for the next two months? You play this series and then what lies ahead, you really don't know. I don't want to really jump the gun. I've kept it this way for the last 4-5 years and it's been very simple and it's worked for me. Why change anything that's working for you?" Ashwin added.
He has fought a battle of perception for a long time in his career but recent years have helped him be at ease. "I've always fought a level of perception in my life, about what people think of me. But definitely, in the last five-six years, I've actually not cared about it. I can't keep proving everybody wrong and I can't prove everybody right. I'm glad that somebody is happy and somebody is not," he added.
"But I need to be happy. I'm in a really, really good space in my life and I want this to continue. I don't want to let go of the love for the game. At one point in my life, I was in a really dark space. I didn't want to watch the game and that's not where I want to go in my life ever again," he recollected.
"I'm happy to watch the game. (Even) last night also, I watched Afghanistan versus Sri Lanka play in the third ODI highlights. I watched live New Zealand versus South Africa. This is who I want to be," stressed Ashwin, who hails from Tamil Nadu.
Ashwin said if the cracks at the pitch do not open up, the surface will remain good for batting in the third Test being played at the Niranjan Shah Stadium.
"At the moment it is feeling like a typical and usual typical Rajkot wicket which will only get slower. The deviation you are seeing, the one that is turning, it's going at a really slow clip. The way the game is going, if the cracks don't open up, the wicket will continue to stay pretty good for batting," Ashwin, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in IPL added.
Recalling his journey on one of the most memorable days of his career, Ashwin said he could only look back and say "not a bad achievement".
“It's been a very long journey. I don't exactly know where to begin because I was an accidental spinner. I wanted to be a batter all along. Life gave me a chance. When I walked into the CSK (Chennai Super Kings) dressing room, Muttiah Muralitharan didn't want to bowl (with) the new ball,
Ashwin, who has played for CSK in the cash-rich IPL, stated.
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