Ravichandran Ashwin is regarded as one of India’s prominent match-winners in red-ball cricket. In addition to being an engineer and a cricketer, he is a popular YouTuber and now an author. He recently published a book named ‘I Have The Streets: A Kutti Cricket Story’. Co-authored by Siddharth Monga. This book offers insights into the Indian cricketer’s mindset and perspectives.
Reflecting on his new work, the 37-year-old remarked that he never focuses on accomplishing targets as he lives in the moment. He also stated that he doesn’t dwell on the right and wrongs of life, instead tends to act spontaneously, leaving it for later.
“I am living my life, that’s it. I am not thinking about accomplishing ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ (targets). I am staying in the moment. I am a creative person in general, and if I feel I want to do something, I will go ahead and do it. (Whether it’s) right or wrong, is something that I will assimilate later,” Ashwin said in an exclusive interview with PTI.
The veteran also revealed that he is not plagued by insecurity and would rather fail than play safe whether it’s life or cricket. The 37-year-old also discussed how he overcame his insecurities at a young age and continues to apply that mindset till now.
“I’m not insecure at all. I would rather fail in life than be absolutely safe. That’s my character. I don’t have the common insecurities that people have. Breaking away from my insecurity (as a child) gave me a great insight into how I can exploit somebody else’s insecurity. And that’s how I see cricket or life in general,” he added.
The seasoned off-spinner further reflected on how the COVID-19 pandemic helped him to reassess his approach to life. He recalled that at that time he realized he had only one chance to pursue his goals. Notably, it was during the lockdown, he started his YouTube channel, where he demonstrated insightful commentary on cricket, cricket laws, and players which now have over 1.5 million subscribers.
“The time that I have is pretty limited. I do plan but for me it’s about living life. I felt cricket took away a lot of my time since 2010 (his India debut) but COVID gave me a chance to take a break, and you know, assess where I was,” he recalls.
“It (the COVID-forced break) has given me wings over the last four years to be able to express myself, expand my creativity zones and so on and so forth,” he said further.
