‘In a happy space’

Ravichandran Ashwin celebrates Zak Crawley’s dismissal, his 500th Test wicket, yesterday. Pic/AFP

Having started his Test career at 25 years and to be sitting pretty as the ninth highest wicket-taker in this format, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has had an outstanding run. Though he had to wait for 13 overs to get from wicket No. 499 in Vizag to 500 here, Ashwin has stormed his way to the top in 12 years.

He is pleased with his journey. "It's been a very long journey. I was an accidental spinner. I wanted to be a batter all along. When I walked into the CSK dressing room, Muttiah Muralitharan did not want to bowl with the new ball so I was tossed the new ball. The IPL stage made me visible to a lot of people and I eventually got my Test debut. I'm pretty glad 10-13 years later, this is not a bad achievement," he said.

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Ashwin is not eyeing Kumble's record of 619. "It's 120 wickets away, man. Every day is what I want to live for. I am 37. I don't know what's in store next," he said, adding that he's pretty content currently. "I'm really happy where I am in life. The last five-six years, I've not cared about what people think of me. I'm in a good space. At one point in life, I was in a really dark space. I didn't want to watch the game, and that's not where I want to go ever again."

The veteran offie hasn't lost his sense of humour either. When asked about the incident where India was penalised five runs for him running on the pitch while batting, here's what he said: "My poor motor skills did not allow me to get off the pitch in time. If the English media and players think I did it on purpose, I didn't. I went to [umpires] Kumar [Dharmasena] and Joel [Wilson] and said that this is poor motor skills. If I was any better, I would have been in the Olympics, why play cricket?"

X talk

Sachin Tendulkar@sachin_rt: 500 Test wickets for a one-in-a-million bowler! In AshWIN the SpinNER, there was always a WINNER. 500 wickets is a huge milestone in Test cricket. Congratulations, Champion!

Anil Kumble@anilkumble1074: A champion bowler who never stops to learn. Congratulations@ashwinravi99 on this monumental achievement! Wonderful to see another Indian spinner joining the club.