Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, 38, said on Sunday that he wants to continue playing, even as his younger fellow cricketers cut their careers short.
Ashwin took six wickets and scored 113 runs as India beat Bangladesh by 280 runs in four days in his hometown of Chennai.
This is his 37th five-wicket haul, after which he has come level with Australian spinner Shane Warne.
Only Sri Lanka’s Mathia Muralidharan is ahead of him who has achieved this feat 67 times.
After the match, Ashwin spoke about how it is not easy to play with age and consistently perform well.
He spoke about the challenges of playing and performing at this age. ‘When you’re 25, 26, 30 or even 35, it’s different. 38 years of age is a different matter.’
‘For everything you do, you have to work twice as hard so that you can pay off.’
Ashwin said, ‘I want to play as long as I can. Whatever I am today is thanks to the sport and what the sport has given me, I owe a lot to it.’
He said that due to aging, he had to reduce his training hours and adopt other methods to keep his body fit.
‘I now approach being active and other aspects of life differently. I also do a little yoga. It’s good.’
Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who is 35, and star batsman Virat Kohli, who is younger than Ashwin, are cutting their careers short.
Both had announced their retirement from T20 after winning the World Cup in June.
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Ashwin has taken 522 wickets in 101 Test matches. He and fellow bowler Ravindra Jadeja, known as India’s spin twins, took nine wickets to bundle Bangladesh out for 234 in pursuit of 515.
The duo also put on a 199-run partnership for the seventh wicket to take India to 376 in the first innings to rescue India from a critical situation of 144 for six.
Ashwin said the 35-year-old left-armer Jadeja is a source of inspiration for him.
‘They are rockets on the field. I envy and envy them, but I also admire them very much.’
“I am satisfied with myself but very impressed with Jadeja’s performance,” he said.
Ashwin crossed the 500-wicket milestone during the 4-1 Test series win against England that year and also achieved the honor of playing 100 Tests.
Jadeja is just one wicket away from 300 Test wickets in 73 matches.
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2024-09-24 11:54:11
