Nothing came easy for Ashwin: W.V. Raman

Raman was at the helm when Ashwin made his First Class debut.

If there is one person who knows R. Ashwin better than most, it is former India cricketer and women’s team coach W.V. Raman. The Tamil Nadu off-spinner made his First Class debut when Raman was at the helm and spoke about the latter’s role in his early years in domestic cricket.

“His legacy is that he’s punched above his weight because nothing came easy for him. He had to work his backside off to get whatever he’s got in life and achieve whatever he’s achieved,” said Raman on Ashwin’s illustrious career.

“And he always had to prove something or the other. In a way, his career is similar to Anil Kumble’s. Both of them had to spend a lot of time proving to others that they were capable of doing something. And even today, I don’t think that Ashwin has been celebrated enough or that his deeds have been recognised in the spirit and context of what he did. I say this because even today, many people are talking about how he’s been very successful on turners, not so much on tracks which are not conducive to spin bowling. I think it’s unfair if people keep using that line of him being successful only on turners. Because when it comes to the batters, we don’t restrain ourselves from celebrating hundreds of good batting tracks.”

“Similarly, I think his deeds on turning tracks also need to be given recognition in the right spirit and in the context of what his wickets did for India to win as many matches as they had done when Ashwin bowled well and he picked up bags of wickets,” he added.

Raman also explained that Ashwin’s feats are remarkable, considering he turned to bowling quite late in his career and had to play catch-up in learning the craft.

“He was hard-pressed to try and constantly think about how quickly he would learn the craft to establish himself and possibly scale the ladder. So if somebody were to think about all this, they would realise what exactly Ashwin has done to become the legend that he is. They have just listened to him talk, and they can perhaps be polarised in their views about Ashwin, the person or the cricketer, but if they sit back and think about what he’s had to do, they will realise this guy is something phenomenal.”