Ravi Ashwin's wife reveals how he reacted to mother's illness during Rajkot test

Ashwin skipped the third day of the Rajkot test due to his mother’s illness, his wife confirmed.

Ace Indian off-spinner Ravi Ashwin completed his 500 test wickets milestone in the third test against England at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. Ashwin celebrated his biggest career milestone on the second day of the third test. The spinner became the second Indian bowler to breach the 500-wicket mark in test cricket and joined legendary leg-spinner Anil Kumble in the elite list.

Despite the special achievement, Ashwin was not able celebrate his success for long, as he had to rush back to his home in Chennai after the end of the second day’s play in Rajkot due to a family emergency. Ashwin’s mother was in the ICU. The Indian off-spinner’s wife revealed that he sounded broken and took 20-25 minutes to process the news.

Preethi Ashwin wrote a column

Prithi Narayanan wrote a column in the Indian Express revealing the details about the call she had with R. Ashwin. She wrote, “Unlike the excitement around his 100th Test, as a family we were very cocooned when he was on 499 wickets. That was because Ashwin did not talk about it. During Rajkot, the kids had just got back from school when five minutes later, he got to 500. And soon, all of us were on the phone answering all the congratulatory messages.”

She added, “It was then that I heard a sudden scream from aunty as she collapsed, and in no time we were at the hospital. At that point, we had decided not to tell Ashwin because there wasn’t good flight connectivity between Chennai and Rajkot.” Prithi Narayanan revealed that Cheteshwar Pujara and his family came to the rescue as she asked them to pass on the news to Ashwin after the day’s play.

She further wrote, “So I dialled Cheteshwar Pujara and his family were of great help. And once we found a way out, I called up Ashwin because after the scans, the doctor suggested it was better to have her son around. Over the phone, he sounded so broken and hung up. It took another 20-25 minutes to process what I told him and for him to call back.”

She also thanked the BCCI and Indian team management for the help and releasing Ashwin for a day in the Rajkot test. Narayanan hailed Ashwin’s dedication to play for India as he immediately returned to Rajkot to take part in the match.

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