Ravichandran Ashwin reveals how Sanjay Manjrekar's criticism changed his life

Ravichandran Ashwin (Pic: File Pic)

Former Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin shared an incident of Sanjay Manjrekar criticising him after his first tour to Australia.

In the Test series against the Aussies in 2011-12, the spinner had picked up only nine wickets in three matches with an average of 62 runs. Considering his performances, Manjrekar had written an article in which he criticised Ashwin.

Speaking about the article on JioHotstar, the former spinner revealed that he felt bad.

"After my first Australia tour, Sanjay Manjrekar wrote a long article. When I was returning, I read the whole thing, and after reading it, I got really angry. I actually felt bad. Anger was just a reaction, but I felt really bad. But after that, I slept on the flight and let it go. Back then, I didn't talk to Sanjay much," said Ashwin.

Further, the Tamil Nadu-born former cricketer said that he worked hard on his game and took Manjrekar's analysis in the right spirit.

"After coming back home, I worked really hard for the next four years. I wasn't a gifted athlete. I worked very hard, and in 2015, he wrote another article saying that I was bowling so well now and that he wanted me to keep performing like that," he said.

"Then I asked for his number and messaged him that I had felt bad back then, but his article came to me like a guru and changed my life. Because there was substance in what he said. So, if I ever get criticised, I just think about whether there's something to learn from it. If I feel there's something to learn, I take it," added the veteran of 106 Test matches.

Ravichandran Ashwin's international statistics

Ashwin made his appearance in 106 Test matches for Team India and garnered 3503 runs, which included six tons and 14 half-centuries. He also bagged 537 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He also donned the Indian ODI colours on 116 occasions. He scored 707 runs, including a half-century. Ashwin also has 156 wickets in the 50-over format.

Having made 65 T20I appearances for the "Men in Blue", he accumulated 184 runs. He also claimed 72 wickets in the shortest format of the game.

(With PTI Inputs)