India suffered a heartbreaking 209-run defeat in the ICC 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval in London earlier in June. Notably, the major talking point after the loss was benching veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the all-important Test.
He was excluded from the playing XI, owing to the conditions at The Oval as per the team management. Days after the summit clash, Ashwin opened up on his absence in the XI.
In an interview with The Indian Express, he remarked that in the ongoing era, everybody is a colleague in the dressing room, which caused quite a stir on social media. He also said that players nowadays are there to move and stride ahead of someone sitting to their right or left.
“This is an era where everybody is a colleague. Once upon a time when cricket was played, all your teammates were friends. Now, they’re colleagues. There’s a big difference because here people are there to advance themselves and to stride ahead of another person sitting to your right or left. So nobody’s got the time to say, ‘okay, boss what are you up to’?” he had told Indian Express.
He went on to say that he believes cricket improves when it is shared and one understands another person's skill and experience. He also mentioned it is an isolated journey.
You will have buddies who are colleagues: Shastri
Former team India head coach Ravi Shastri, who worked in tandem with Ashwin during his stint with the squad, had a direct response to the 36-year-old's remark. Shastri said that it was always colleagues for him and not friends. The 61-year-old noted that there will always be colleagues, no matter whether it's in the dressing room or the commentary box.
“For me, it was always colleagues. You will have buddies who are colleagues. I mean... how many close friends do anyone have? If you go and ask anyone, they will say 4-5... in their life! I'm happy with 5 close friends in my life, I don't want more than that. What I'm saying is, all the time colleagues. Commentary box, colleagues,” the former cricketer told The Week.
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