<p><a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/ind-vs-ban-1st-test-ravichandran-ashwin-and-ravindra-jadeja-saves-the-game-for-india-on-day-1-23396264" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"><strong>R Ashwin</strong></a> on Friday said he has liberated himself from the clutches of external and internal pressure, and now he is just looking to play cricket &ldquo;with a smile on face.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Ashwin made a back-on-the-wall hundred on the first day of the opening Test here against Bangladesh to rescue India from a precarious 144-6 in the company of an equally resolute Ravindra Jadeja.</p>
<p>The 38-year-old leveraged on that innings to drive home the point that he now only responds to pressure situations on a cricket field, unlike in the past when he reacted to every needle-point. &ldquo;I do enjoy and embrace pressure. There&rsquo;s no doubt about it. It does give you opportunities to be able to be pushed to a corner and then try and respond. But I was critical too, earlier [of himself and others], because a lot of pressure has been put on me by people. I&rsquo;ve put pressure on myself,&rdquo; Ashwin told reporters on Friday.</p>
<p><strong>Also Read: <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/cricket/article/r-ashwin-buys-team-in-global-chess-league-23361912" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">R Ashwin buys team in Global Chess League</a></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;The pressure I&rsquo;ve always responded to &mdash; in answering someone, in a performance or in a press conference. But it&rsquo;s not like that now. I want to play cricket with a smile on my face. I promised myself 4-5 years ago that I won&rsquo;t respond to anyone, and I&rsquo;ve been maintaining that till now,&rdquo; he added.</p>
<p>The mental detachment to situations and people around him has helped Ashwin to clearly demarcate between his primary and secondary suits &mdash; bowling and batting.</p>
<p>&ldquo;For me to compartmentalise both has taken its own due, and at this stage, I&rsquo;m able to sequence that and split both of them,&rdquo; he said.</p>
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“For me to compartmentalise both has taken its own due, and at this stage, I’m able to sequence that and split both of them,” he said

'I play with a smile now': Ashwin on handling pressure

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'I play with a smile now': Ashwin on handling pressure

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