'He's Brainwashed me': Ravichandran Ashwin Recalls How First Meeting With Rahul Dravid Changed His Mindset

Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed how current India head coach Rahul Dravid may have ‘brainwashed’ him into not bothering about personal milestones and rather focusing on creating memories as a team.

Ashwin on Wednesday took his Test career’s 33rd five-wicket haul which saw  him surpass England’s James Anderson in the list of most fifers in the format.

The India offspinner is now sixth in the all-time list led by the legendary Muttiah Muralitharan who took 67 five-wicket hauls during his career.

During an interaction with the media after the end of first day’s play in the first Test between India and West Indies, Ashwin reflected on his professional career which he feels has gone by ‘so fast’ that he can hardly recall anything from it.

“Actually when I look back at my career, I wonder how it’s gone by so fast. It’s been literally 14 years on the go and if you include IPL also, it’s been almost a 15-16 years journey. It’s just gone like that. All I would tell anybody is… the first time I met Rahul Dravid as a coach, he made this statement: ‘It’s not about how many wickets you take, how many runs you score. You’ll forget about all of them. It is only the great memories you create as a team that’ll stick with you,'” Ashwin said.

“I’m totally behind that. I don’t know if he’s brainwashed me to do that. From my point of view, I definitely think that this journey has gone so fast that I’m not even able to recollect what has happened, and how it has gone through,” said the 36-year-old who has taken his wickets tally to 479 in Tests,

“I’ve got a lot of gratitude and I’m very grateful for the journey and what the game has given to me. I don’t know how many more such moments will come to me, but whatever comes my way, I’ll try to enjoy it completely,” he added.

Ashwin says once cricket resume during the covid pandemic, he promised to enjoy everything that came his way.

“After Covid when cricket began again, I promised myself that I’ll enjoy whatever happens… whether I’m playing, getting dropped or if I’m retiring. Whatever happens, I will enjoy it,” he said.