Breaking away from my insecurity gave me great insights: Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is, without a doubt, one of the greatest match-winners India has ever produced. He has a keen eye for the game, and his analysis has won him plaudits all over. 

For him to be the player and the person he is today, he revealed, he's had to get rid of insecurities, something he added also helped him get the better of his opponents.

“Breaking away from my insecurity [as a child] gave me a great insight into how I can exploit somebody else’s insecurity. And that’s how I see cricket or life in general,” he explained, letting out perhaps the secret of his understated aggression on the field," Ashwin said in a chat with PTI.

Facing his insecurities has also helped Ashwin block out the outside noise, which has enabled him to keep the noise out and deliver on the field. “I’m not insecure at all. I would rather fail in life than be absolutely safe. That’s my character. I don’t have the common insecurities that people have."

While COVID took a toll on millions around the world, Ashwin revealed he used the restrictions during those tough times to take a pause and explore his creative side. 

Ashwin had his share of trauma during that time, having seen many of his loved ones hospitalised. However, the all-rounder used the time away from the game to grow his YouTube channel, which has now garnered over 1.5 million subscribers.

“The time that I have is pretty limited. I do plan, but for me, it’s about living life. I felt cricket took away a lot of my time since 2010 [his India debut] but Covid gave me a chance to take a break, and you know, assess where I was,” he recalled.

“It [the Covid-forced break] has given me wings over the last four years to be able to express myself, expand my creativity zones and so on and so forth."

Ashwin is India's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests, with 516 scalps to his name. Moreover, he also has more than 3,000 runs in the format, which includes as many as five centuries.

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