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In life and in cricket, I would rather fail than play safe, says Ravichandran Ashwin

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Engineer, cricketer, a popular youtuber and now an author too. Parallel processing or multi-tasking comes easy to R Ashwin, who would rather fail than play safe whether it’s life or cricket.

The 37-year-old off-spinner, one of the sharpest minds in international cricket right now, is also a refreshingly candid voice with 516 Test wickets lending considerable weight to his views.

He is currently enjoying the critical success of his book “I Have The Streets: A Kutti Cricket Story’. Co-authored by Sidharth Monga and published by Penguin Random House, it chronicles Ashwin’s life till 2011 and also gives a peak into his mind, which enjoys probability analysis as much as decoding a difficult batter.

“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 told PTI in an exclusive interview.

He wasn’t always this fearless though. There was an insecure side to him as a child but he outgrew it as time went by, realising that his fears were paralysing him.

Once that was dealt with, Ashwin says he became somewhat unflappable and it has been evident in his growth as a cricketer. From bowling carrom balls on Chennai’s streets as a kid, his metamorphosis into India’s premier spinner has been quite a ride.

He has taken criticism on the chin and has responded with a bagful of wickets, refusing to let that “outside noise” disturb the equilibrium of his mind. And it is this system optimisation, as the engineer in him would say, which allows him to take risks, and not be afraid of failure.

“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,” he asserts with the same clarity with which he decodes complex cricket laws in his social media feeds, which don’t take long to become viral trends.

“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 explained, letting out perhaps the secret of his understated aggression on the field.

Coming back to parallel processing, the engineering jargon for execution of multiple computations at the same time, Ashwin said the COVID crisis, during which almost everyone battled the fear of loss, was the time he recalibrated his approach to life and realised that in the end, he had just one chance to do what he wanted.

Out came the youtube channel during the lockdown and his articulate views on cricket, cricket laws and cricketers now have over 1.5 million subscribers.

It shouldn’t be forgotten that like most people around him, Ashwin too battled the trauma of seeing his loved ones hospitalised due to the dreaded infection at that time.

“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 says, referring to his success as a rare outspoken voice in Indian cricket.

According to him, it all boils down to being fearless or having the ability to see the fun side of risks, something that a visit to a casino taught him back in 2009.

“If you go to the Casino, thinking of how much money you will make, you will pretty much end up without a rupee. But when you go with the intention of having fun and wanting to lose the money that you have, you always go back a much richer person. It was actually a big learning experience,” he explains.

But that’s not his only point of reference for life lessons, he could pick those up as easily from a movie, or a web series or books.

Talking of books, he knows that telling one’s story to the world is fraught with risk.

It is not limited to opening up a hitherto unseen side of yours to people who might judge without knowing. There’s also the danger of unknowingly hurting others when unpleasant experiences become public knowledge.

“I think hurting someone is an immensely painful journey. But if tomorrow I do write about hurtful instances of mine then it’s because people who are on the other side, will have hurt me. They are obviously gonna feel bad about it, because nobody intentionally hurts you,” he says, underscoring his belief in the inherent goodness of individuals.

And that’s why he prefers to look at painful episodes as life lessons, harsh but necessary to build a person. He details one such instance in his book when, during his time with Chennai Super Kings, a team official refused to entertain his plea for a good IPL ticket in 2010 despite the fact that he was a major contributor to the side’s success that season.

“Look, people who give you an opportunity to learn harsh lessons in life are Gurus in my book. I didn’t want to go and confront the guy. But for me it is an incident, it happened, and it fuelled the fire in me.

“I wanted to become a better person. I wanted to become a better cricketer. I am thankful for the person who did that to me, because I think in some way or the other he fuelled my desire to do well,” he says.

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‘Hindi Is Not Our National Language’ says Ravichandran Ashwin

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Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from international cricket in December, sparked a conversation on language and identity while speaking at a graduation ceremony at a private engineering college in Chennai.

Ashwin, who concluded his illustrious career with 537 Test wickets and as India’s second-highest wicket-taker across formats, made a strong statement about Hindi’s status in India, emphasising that it is an ‘official language’ and not a ‘national language’.

Ashwin began his address by engaging the audience in a light-hearted interaction, asking how many attendees understood English, Tamil, and Hindi.

‘English students in the house… give me a yay. Tamil?’ he asked. The crowd roared in response, reflecting the pride and enthusiasm for the Tamil language.

‘Okay… Hindi?’ he continued. The response this time was subdued, with little to no reaction from the audience.

It was at this point that Ashwin made his statement, ‘I thought I should say this: Hindi is not our national language; it is an official language.’

His comment resonated strongly, especially given Tamil Nadu’s historical and cultural sensitivity toward the use of Hindi.

The state has long resisted efforts to impose Hindi as a dominant language, with the issue rooted in decades of opposition to central policies perceived as undermining Tamil culture and identity.

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Jay Shah to be felicitated by BCCI

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Newly-elected International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah will be felicitated by the BCCI’s state units on the sidelines of the Special General Meeting, scheduled in Mumbai on Sunday.

Shah, a former BCCI secretary, became the youngest ICC chairman after he was elected unopposed in August last year and took over the prestigious post on December 1. He replaced Greg Barclay who decided not to seek a third term.

Shah was the BCCI secretary since October 2019 and chairman of the Asian Cricket Council since January 2021.

Shah will, however, not be a part of the SGM as he is no longer an office-bearer of the BCCI.

The cricket administrator has been at the forefront of expanding the game’s imprint globally and recently met top officials of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics organising committee to discuss the sport’s inclusion in the Summer Games.

Cricket will make a return to the Olympics after 128 years when it is played in the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The sport is not yet confirmed for the 2032 edition in Brisbane.

Australian newspaper, The Age, recently reported that Shah will meet meet Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird and his England counterpart Richard Thompson later this month to discuss the finer points of a two-tier Test system to facilitate more series between the big three nations.

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Legend 90 Cricket to begin from Feb 6 in Raipur

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The draft for much anticipated international Legend 90 Cricket League was unveiled in a grand ceremony at Mayfair Resorts, Nava Raipur.

The tournament is set to take place at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium in Raipur from February 6 to 18. After a successful season in Kandy, Sri Lanka, India has earned the privilege of hosting this mega league.

The event will feature an impressive lineup of national and international cricket stars including Chris Gayle, David Warner, Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Matthew Wade, Moeen Ali, Aaron Finch, Thisara Perera, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, Shaun Marsh, Martin Guptill, Kedar Jadhav, Ben Dunk and Daniel Christian.

Seven teams , Big Boss, Dubai Giants, Delhi Royals, Rajasthan King, Haryana Gladiators, Gujarat Samprami and Chhattisgarh Warriors will compete for the championship.

The Chhattisgarh Warriors, representing the host state feature prominent players like Suresh Raina, Martin Guptill, Ambati Rayudu, and Pawan Negi. Additionally, local players from Chhattisgarh including Vishal Kushwaha, Amit Mishra, Kaleem Khan, Pankaj Rao, Jatin Saxena and Manoj Singh will showcase their talent.

CEO of the league Tarunesh Singh Parihar highlighted that top players like Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh, Chris Gayle, Yusuf Pathan, Corey Anderson, Moeen Ali and Tilakaratne Dilshan are among the most expensive picks this season. Adding to the excitement, the league’s opening ceremony will feature performances by Bollywood actress Tamannah Bhatia, Huma Qureshi, Aayushman Khurana along with singers like Sonu Nigam and Hardy Sandhu. Efforts are underway to keep ticket prices affordable, ensuring the event is accessible to the local audience and cricket fans from Raipur.

Legend 90 League 2025 Squads:

Haryana Gladiators: Ishank Jaggi, Imran Khan, Abu Nechim, Rikki Clarke, Manan Sharma, Chadwick Walton, Peter Trego, Praveen, Anureet Singh, Pawan Suyal, Asela Gunaratne, Ben Dunk, Harbhajan Singh

Chhattisgarh Warriors: Martin Guptill, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Siddharth Kaul, Pawan Negi,  Sheldon Jackson, Kevon Cooper, Vishal Kushwah, Abhishek Sakuja, Amit Verma, Amit Mishra, Rishi Dhawan, Kalim Khan, Unmukt Chand, Manoj Singh, Abhimanyu Mithun, Colin de Grandhomme

Big Boys: Chris Gayle, Matt Prior, Shannon Gabriel, Ishan Malhotra, Varun Aaron, Monu Kumar, Neil Broom, Karanveer Singh, Chirag Gandhi, Robin Bist, Vinod Chanwariya, Upul Tharanga, Tamim Iqbal, Naman Sharma, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kapil Rana, Hershelle Gibbs, Abdur Razzak

Rajasthan Kings: Dwayne Bravo, Ankit Rajpoot, Phil Mustard, Faiz Fazal, Shadab Jakati, Jaskaran Malhotra, Imran Tahir, Jaykishan Kolsawala, Rajesh Bishnoi, Coray Anderson, Samiullah Shinwari, Rajat Singh, Ashley Nurse, Dawlat Zadran, Manpreet Gony.

Delhi Royals: Shikhar Dhawan, Lendl Simmons, Angelo Perera, Bipul Sharma, Rayad Emrit, Ross Taylor, Danusha Gunathilaka, Sharad Lumba, Lakhwinder Singh, Rajwinder Singh, Jerome Taylor, Denesh Ramdin, Sumit Narwal, Parvinder Awana.

Dubai Giants: Shakib Al Hasan, Seekuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera, Siddharth Trivedi, Kevin O’Brien, Luke Fletcher, Brendon Taylor, Rahul Yadav, Kichard Levi, Kennar Lewis, Hamilton Masakadza, Liam Plunkett, Dwayne Smith, Christopher Mpofu

Gujarat Samp Army: Yusuf Pathan, Moeen Ali, Obus Pienaar, Saurabh Tiwary, Kesrick Williams, Jesal Karia, Navin Stewart, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, William Perkins, Mausif Khan, Chaturanga de Silva, Shapoor Zadran, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Miguel Cummins.

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