It’s never easy being Ravichandran Ashwin. Even at his peak he had to endure the ignominy of being India’s second-choice spinner overseas but that never stopped him from experimenting or devising methods to plot his next dismissal.

“An engineer who became a cricketer” is how he often described himself and always wore the attributes of a professor who was out to make it count, be it using the width of the crease or playing into the minds of the batters.

His rhythm was always outstanding, his control impeccable. When most spinners would try to contain batters, he always dared to play the attacking role.

There has been the funky carrom ball or the occasional leg break but the straighter ones that have hastened off the pitch have been remarkable. More importantly, he never shied away from giving it a rip to get the ball to turn regularly.

The thinking bowler in Ashwin never stopped at inventing numerous variations. During the 2020-21 series Down Under, he made Steve Smith his obsession for about six months while preparing for the four-match series. He ended up picking 12 wickets in three Tests dismissing Smith thrice in the series.

He never left anything to chance when it came to preparations. Besides having all the information related to a batter at his fingertips, he would dwell on the pitch, its past record and every other information that could add to his knowledge.

Ashwin also made it a point to tune his body clock according to the demands of the overseas conditions much ahead of reaching the venue so that he never had any trouble acclimatising.

His constant search for excellence always sets him apart though it can be draining too when he is not considered to be a part of the playing XI. Yet he learnt to take the good with the bad even after being ignored at The Oval in the 2023 World Test Championship final when his inclusion had seemed a formality.

“There’s no human being or cricketer who has gone through the highs without the lows,” he said. “When you have lows, it gives you two chances — either you sulk
and complain about it and go along and go down, or you learn from it.

“I am someone who’s constantly learnt from my lows. In fact the best thing that’s happened after a good day... is that I’ll have a good meal, talk to my family and then go to bed and forget about it...”

Such philosophy in life always helps one reach greater heights and Ashwin followed it to the tee. He would often bother the team management with innumerable questions and his illustrious way of doing things came to be known as “Ash-level thinking” during Rahul Dravid’s tenure.

While getting ignored overseas, he had also etched out a plan on how to respond to such situations. “How do I make sure the team dressing room is really up and about because winning is the most important thing,” he once said.

With 72 wickets in 26 Tests in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries, his record may not be significant but he also had to endure the trouble of playing in conditions which didn’t suit a spinner.

He never had a problem with letting others know how he felt on a particular issue. When he was castigated for running out or ‘Mankading’ Jos Buttler during an
IPL match in 2019 and playing with the spirit of the game, he offered a simple solution: “We should applaud the bowler and tell the batsmen he can do better”.

Even at 38, Ashwin’s learning curve never stopped. He understood his limitations which reflected in a sudden shrinking in the number of wickets he managed to pick during the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Yet he was the most impressive among the three Indian spinners on display on the current tour. He certainly didn’t wish to be ignored for a second time when another off-spinner was chosen ahead of him in spinning conditions in Melbourne or Sydney.

Having read the riot act, he decided to call time on his international career though he deserved a better deal.