India started off their new World Test Championship cycle in a dominant manner bowling out West Indies for just 150 runs on Day 1 of the first Test match. Despite no demons on the pitch, India dominated the proceedings on first day of the Test match. In process India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin picked up a 5-wicket haul to reach 700 international wickets, only the third Indian bowler to do so in the history of the game.
In the press conference after the game, Ashwin spoke about India’s WTC Final loss and why the team needed to start the new WTC cycle with a bang.
“It’s very tough as a cricketer when You have a WTC final and end up sitting out,” Ashwin told the press after Day 1 of the Test match.
“All that is fine. But what is the difference between me and another person if I also end up sulking in the dressing room. When we went to the WTC final, I was mentally prepared to play. I had prepared physically and mentally, planned for the game, everything. But, I was also prepared to not play the game,” the spinner further added.
The dropping of Ashwin for the WTC Final raised eyebrows in the Indian cricketing circles. The decision was met with intense criticism amongst the pundit and the fans but Ashwin chose to look at the bigger picture. The spinner said that India needed to put all of that in the past and start the new cycle with a bang, because it hurt when the team lost successive finals, first against New Zealand and then against Australia.
The spinner said that he could not mope over the his drop, adding that it was not possible to have highs without the lows in life.
“There is no cricketer or human being in this world that has gone through the highs without the lows,” Ashwin said.
“When you have the lows, it gives you two choices, either you sulk or talk about it and then complain about it and go along with it and go down. Or you learn from it. So I’m someone who’s constantly learnt from my lows,” he further added.
