Ashwin the man who has been involved in several wins for the nation, has written a book in the company of the indefatigable Siddarth Monga, the respectable ESPNCRICINFO.Com columnist. He has named it “I Have the Streets”. At the outset, one cannot understand what is even the meaning of this. I have never seen anyone name their book in this fashion. It sounds ridiculous. I have the Streets! What does it mean? I thought for some more time and finally, I gave up. Until I read the foreword from none other than Rahul Dravid. After reading it, I think I have understood the meaning of the title.
It is not easy for everyone to understand unless you were born and lived a substantial part of your life in Madras or Chennai. I think what he means is “naa roadla valerntha paiyan da”, which translates to I have been brought up on the roads of Chennai. It is a typical slang that only those who have lived in the heart of Chennai will be able to understand.
Dravid’s words
Rahul Dravid starts by stating that when he played league cricket in Chennai, Ashwin was his captain whereas, he became the coach of an Indian team of which Ashwin was also a part. Dravid refuses to hold back in his praise for Ashwin. He says that Ashwin is someone who is talented, combative who made heads turn. He is also someone who reinvents himself time and again. This book, he says, offers an insight into why Ashwin has been successful. How he brought intelligence into the game. Dravid acknowledges the fact tht Ashwin wasn’t naturally athletic but he kept fighting. Earlier, Dravid used to share a dressing room with Ashwin during which he understood his deep love for the craft. Ashwin is not interested in merely finding success but in elevating an art form.
Dravid recollects a couple of times when Ashwin the competitor came to the fore. One was against Australia at Ahmedabad on a lifeless pitch where he picked up 6 wickets and kept on bowling and the other was a tight win in Bangladesh when Ashwin remaining not out. Dravid remarked, “Never in doubt, Ash, never in doubt”. Ashwin, says Dravid, has a strong opinion and will be unwilling to backdown. Yet, he will try and find out the reason why someone has suggested something.
Chapter one
At the age of 5, during a family wedding, Ashwin could not get up at all. He was immediately rushed to Chennai from Trichy, which is about 330KM away. He was diagnosed to have a primary complex with lungs. In other words, child tuberculosis. He doesn’t eat or drink too much because it makes him vomit. However, he continues to play all the time despite the coughing and vomiting. On an average, he gets wheezing twice a month with each lasts lasting for 6-7 days.
Another time, the family head to Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu in India. Ashwin’s father prefers to go to the main boarding point of the train in Egmore despite, Mambalam being near to the family. The moment, the train reached Mambalam, he started to vomit. The entire family got out of the train in 2 minutes and were home immediately. He was diagnosed with malaria.
Ashwin’s parents and thatha
His father, who was a railways employee, was an ardent cricket fan. He used to bowl medium pace during his time. He did not own a kitbag and used to carry the bat and the gloves strapped within both the pads. Once, they got tickets to watch India play England at Chepauk, MA Chidambaram Stadium. Ashwin has fond memories of that game in which Tendulkar flays the England attack all around the ground. India wins that game and it was made sweeter by his father who took him to get the autography of Gavaskar.
His mother worked at HLL. She worked for 6 days a week and would not allow Ashwin to go out on the street on Sundays as she preferred to spend time with her son. She is also someone who prefers her afternoon nap on Sundays.
Ashwin says that he is scared of his father who painstakingly, reads all of Ashwin’s school textbooks before he could teach him. He also goes to the homes of Ashwin’s friends to copy notes. The values that he has inculcated on Ashwin are exemplary. “You should not steal from others. You should not lie and you should not harm others.”
Ashwin goes onto narrate a few incidents playing cricket on the streets during his childhood which every Indian child would have endured. If the ball goes into the well and if the well has water, it is easy to get the ball with a rope and a bucket whereas, if there is no water, the wait will extend till the rainy season. Ashwin used to run to this grandfather for money to buy a new ball. However, his grandfather being studious, will not allow until everyone else has bought a ball by rotation.
Wrapping up Ashwin and the opening
At the age of 9, Ashwin was asked to play for a U-14 club side for a tournament in Bangalore. His grandfather took him to Bangalore. They stayed in the Karnataka State Cricket Association dormitory at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. He didn’t get to play in any of the games but fielded quite well. It is amusing to read this because in the Indian team, Ashwin will probably be the slowest mover.
Other blogs about Ashwin
https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-wants-to-disallow-the-non-striker-backing