Former Indian spinner and commentator Ravi Ashwin has strolled down memory lane to reveal that he got angry after reading one of the articles written by the former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar.
Speaking on JioHotstar’s Cheeky Singles episode, Ashwin revealed that a few years later, he went on to meet Manjrekar and disclosed that his article had changed his life, adding that he always learns from criticism.
“I had messaged Sanjay Manjrekar once. After my first Australia tour, he had written a long article, and I read it completely while returning. After reading, I got angry, getting angry is one thing, but I felt very bad. I let it go. I used to not talk a lot to him either. The next four years, I worked a lot, as I was not a gifted athlete. Then, in 2015, he wrote another article saying I was bowling very well. Then I asked for his number and messaged him that your article back then changed my life. I always look at whether there is something to learn from criticism,” Ravi Ashwin said on JioHotstar’s ‘Cheeky Singles’
“When I was playing, I had scolded a few broadcasters. I told them, like, what have you achieved in life that you are behind me? But after retirement, all those whom I felt were enemies, it never felt like they actually said anything bad about me. They were doing their job,” he added.
Furthermore, Ashwin disclosed that he used to copy the former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh’s action every day in gully cricket before he made his international debut. He also revealed that he bowled with Bhajjis’ action during his U19 days.
“In Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy, I played U-19 for the first time. At that time, I tried to copy Harbhajan’s action a bit. I used to bat at that time and would not get a lot of bowling. So whenever I bowled, I used to bowl with his action. Everyone will say in interviews that they are his fan, but I am a real fan as I know his first international wicket. I used to copy his action every day in gully cricket. I have seen all his games,” he concluded.
