Former Indian all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has made a surprising revelation about one of the biggest turning points in his career. Ravichandran Ashwin shared how Sanjay Manjrekar’s criticism initially left him upset but later became the biggest reason behind his remarkable transformation.
The former Indian spinner admitted that reading Manjrekar’s article after India’s 2012 tour of Australia hurt him deeply. But instead of ignoring the criticism, he decided to work harder on his fitness and improve his overall game. Years later, he even thanked Manjrekar for changing his career. Amid this, Shubman Gill warned of ‘real test’ on turning pitches before Sri Lanka Tests.
Ravichandran Ashwin reveals the Sanjay Manjrekar article that changed everything
Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that Sanjay Manjrekar wrote an article about him after India’s tour of Australia in 2012. The former Indian batter praised Ashwin’s bowling skills but, at the same time, criticized his fitness, which was affecting both his bowling and fielding at that time.
After reading it, the former Indian off-spinner contacted the cricket pundit and thanked him for pushing him to become a better player. Ashwin also stressed that he always tries to learn something from criticism instead of taking it personally and getting angry with that person.
Ravichandran Ashwin said on the show ‘Cheeky Singles’: “I had messaged Sanjay Manjrekar once. After my first Australia tour, he had written a long article, and I read it completely while returning. After reading, I got angry. Getting angry is one thing, but I felt very bad. I let it go. I used to not talk a lot to him either.”
“There is something to learn from criticism”: Ravichandran Ashwin
Ashwin admitted that the article made him feel angry and disappointed at first. However, the former Indian off-spinner took it as motivation and started working much harder on his fitness over the next few years. Later, back in 2015, Manjrekar wrote another article praising Ashwin’s bowling and highlighting how much he had improved.
The former Indian all-rounder added, “The next four years, I worked a lot, as I was not a gifted athlete. Then in 2015, he wrote another article saying he was bowling very well. Then I asked for his number and messaged him that your article back then changed my life. I always look at whether there is something to learn from criticism.”
Harbhajan Singh shares his own experience with criticism
During the same show, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh also shared how he dealt with the criticism. Harbhajan admitted that sometimes he got angry with television commentators and broadcasters who criticized his performances because they were unfairly targeting him. Amid this, Aakash Chopra backs Shreyas Iyer despite poor T20I record; reveals biggest strength.
Harbhajan said, “When I was playing, I had scolded a few broadcasters. I told them, like, what have you achieved in life that you are behind me? But after retirement, all those whom I felt were enemies, it never felt like they actually said anything bad about me. They were doing their job.”
Ravichandran Ashwin reveals he was Harbhajan Singh’s biggest fan
Ashwin also shared an interesting story from his early cricket days. He revealed that he was a huge fan of Harbhajan Singh long before playing for India. Whenever he got a chance to bowl in junior cricket or even in gully cricket, he would copy Harbhajan’s bowling action.
He shared, “In Dinesh Karthik’s captaincy, I played U-19 for the first time. At that time, I tried to copy Harbhajan’s action a bit. I used to bat at that time and would not get a lot of bowling. So whenever I bowled, I used to bowl with his action. Everyone will say in interviews that they are his fan, but I am a real fan, as I know his first international wicket. I used to copy his action every day in gully cricket. I have seen all his games.”
