Ashwin's Wife Shares Heartfelt Tribute as He Retires: 'Time to Let go of the Pressure'
Prithi Narayanan, the wife of Ashwin, has recently written a heartfelt tribute to her husb...
Prithi Narayanan, the wife of Ashwin, has recently written a heartfelt tribute to her husband. In her emotional message, she reflected on Ashwin's remarkable cricketing journey and shared her feelings when the 38-year-old announced his retirement. The tribute serves as a touching reminder of the dedication and passion Ashwin has poured into his career over the years.
"It has been a blurry two days for me. I have been thinking about what I can say. Do I put this down as a tribute to my all time favorite cricketer ? Maybe I’ll just take the partner angle? Or maybe a love letter from a fan girl? I guess this is a little bit of all of it," she wrote on Instagram.
"When I saw Ashwin's PC, I thought of small and big moments. Many, many memories over the last 13-14 years. The big wins , the MOS awards, the quiet silence in our room after an intense game, the sound of the shower running for much longer than usual on some evenings post-play, the scratch of pencil over paper as he scribbled thoughts down, the constant streaming of footage videos when he is making a game plan, the calm of meditative breathing before leaving for each game, certain songs playing on repeat while he unwinds, she added.
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Ashwin brought the curtain down on his international career as the second-highest wicket-taker for India in international cricket. He is only second to Anil Kumble in the wicket-taking charts.
The premier off-spinner was also part of India's 2011 World Cup-winning and 2013 Champions Trophy-winning teams.
"The times we wept in joy - after the CT final, after the MCG win, after the Sydney draw, The Gabba win, after making a comeback in T20s…the times we sat in silence and the times when we had our hearts broken," wrote Prithi Narayanan.
'Been an absolute pleasure'Ashwin's wife also stated that it was an "absolute pleasure" to watch the cricketer go about his job and become such a big match-winner for India. Ashwin has the most number of Player of the Series awards when it comes to men's Test cricket (11).
"Dear Ashwin, from not knowing how to put a kit bag together to following you to stadiums all over the world, rooting for you, watching you and learning from you, it has been an absolute pleasure. The world you introduced me to gave me the privilege to watch and enjoy a sport that I love from close quarters. It also showed me how much passion, hardwork and discipline is needed to keep your head above water. And sometimes even that is not enough," she said.
"I remember us talking about why you, R Ashwin, had to do all of this and a lot more to even stay relevant in the scheme of things. How awards, the best of stats, the POMs, the accolades, the records didn’t matter if you didn’t sharpen your skill sets constantly and did not put in the work. Sometimes, nothing is enough. As you end your wonderful international run, I only want to tell you that it’s all good. It is all going to be good," she added.
Ashwin might have retired from international cricket but will continue playing club cricket. While announcing his retirement, he clearly stated that he had "enough punch" left in him, but his time as an international cricketer for India was up.
"It is time to set the burden of being you down. Live life on your terms, make space for those extra calories, make time for your family, make time to do absolutely nothing, share memes all day, create a new bowling variation, bug our kids out of their minds. Just do it all," Ashwin's wife said.
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