Ashwin: '500 done and dusted, now got a game hanging in the balance'

R Ashwin became the ninth man, and only the second Indian, to the landmark of 500 Test wickets. The 37-year-old offspinner got there on the second day in Rajkot, dismissing England's Zak Crawley in the final session. He is also the second-fastest to achieve the feat, getting there in his 98th Test.

"I would like to dedicate this to my father, he's responsible for everything I've done in my life. He's lived it through, had heart-attacks every time I've played. I think his health has gone for a toss because he's watched games of mine on TV and been a constant support for me," Ashwin said with a laugh at the end of the day's play. "I'm sure he will be very happy today. But yeah, 500 wickets done and dusted now, and we've got a game hanging in the balance."

When asked about what had not changed during his 12-year career, Ashwin said it was his "desire to excel".

"The desire to excel hasn't changed, wanting to keep on evolving as a cricketer, that's something that's been organic to me right from my club cricket days in Chennai," he told the host broadcaster. "Ever since I picked up the red ball, the first question that hung in front of me was whether I was a good enough red-ball bowler. A lot of people perceive that I've come through the IPL but the hard yards I put in club and first-class cricket in Chennai made a lot of difference to me as a Test bowler."

Ashwin identified the period from 2018 to 2019, when he lost his place in the Indian team away from home, as the most challenging phase of his career, describing it as a "bottomless pit" before the Covid-19 pandemic gave him perspective.

"Life has had its ups and downs and for me the lowest part for me was that 2018-2019 period," he said. "I was the ICC cricketer of the year and on top of the world and from there to actually go to a really bottomless pit was a very dark time in my life. Generally, I'm not someone who is fazed by the downs in life … when I'm down I don't get beaten by it, I think about it, I want to come out of it, there's always something to learn from bad days. But that was a really dark tunnel for me and I don't know what hit me and how I got placed there. Injuries followed, I had a couple of injures as a bowler, the adductor strain and all that.

"And when I thought it was all almost done, was when the world got hit by a pandemic and that gave me a really good reflection of where I stood in life, what I wanted to play for, and to find new meaning of what this game stood for me. This game is all I love and I think I had lost some of that love before that and I managed to discover it.

"I'd be lying if I said 500 doesn't mean anything. It probably does. At the moment, it hasn't sunk in, but like I said 2020 onwards the way I look at the game, my life, has been different to before. I've rediscovered the joy of playing the sport again. I'm sure a lot of cricketers who have played the sport for a long time can vouch for what I am saying. You do have phases where you lose the love for the game a bit and you look at it as a job, a profession, the moment that happens it can get monotonous and lonely. So for me the rediscovery of the joy of playing the game is the highest point for me."

Ashwin's 500th scalp was a timely one for India, after England's openers had responded to India's first-innings score of 445 with an 89-run stand in just 13 overs. He broke the partnership by having Crawley top-edging a sweep to Rajat Patidar at short fine leg.

England rode on an 88-ball hundred from Ben Duckett to end the second day on 207 for 2 in just 35 overs, trailing India by 238 runs.

"They are showing a lot of intent, playing like how they would play in a T20 or one-day game. Given us less time to think and also less labour," Ashwin said of England's aggressive batting. "Have to bowl good balls and expect one of those airy-fairy shots to go to hand.

"The surfaces we have played on in this Test series have enabled the batters to have a reasonable amount of time in the first three-four days. I expect this pitch to get tough on day five. Having said that we just need to hang in there and wheel away and exercise best disciplines like you would in Test cricket. England have found themselves in such situations before and we've found a way to pull ourselves back into the match."

Ashwin, who made his debut for India in November 2011, has been key to the home dominance that they've shown for the last decade. Overall, he has picked up 34 five-wicket hauls and eight match hauls of ten or more. Only Anil Kumble, who has 619 wickets, is ahead of Ashwin among Indians on the wicket-takers' tally in Tests. He is also only the third offspinner to the mark, alongside Muthiah Muralidaran and Nathan Lyon.