Three days have passed since one of the greatest spinners of the modern-day generation, Ravichandran Ashwin, called time on his international playing career. While Ashwin's retirement has come across as a major shock, people have made peace with it and have been lauding the match-winner on an illustrious career for India.
The latest to jump on the bandwagon and hail the former India spinner for his remarkable achievements is none other than his wife Prithi Ashwin.
Prithi took to her Instagram account to write a fitting tribute to her partner and heaped praise on him for having such a successful international career that spanned over 20 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," wrote Prithi while trying to collect her thoughts following her husband's retirement.
"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.. The times we weeped 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.
"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.
"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. 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," she concluded.
Meanwhile, Ashwin has returned to his hometown Chennai and will be seen in action next in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
