"I Am MVP Of My Cricket, Not Rohit Sharma Or Virat Kohli": R Ashwin

Ever since India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin announced his sudden retirement from international cricket, tributes have been pouring in from all corners for the veteran cricketer. However, Ashwin doesn't want people to celebrate his career or worship him. For him, the sport is above all individuals. However, the owner of 537 Test wickets said that he does want to burst a few cricketing myths. Former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain had a detailed virtual conversation with Ashwin, who is currently in Chennai following his retirement from international cricket.

During the interaction, Ashwin gave some interesting insights into his memoir "I Have The Streets: A Kutty Cricket Story" which was released earlier this year in July. During the chat, Ashwin opened up on one of the biggest myths about him. He said that people think that he is too serious and doesn't enjoy the game as much as someone like Virat Kohli. 

However, Ashwin's insisted that's not the case, adding that he gets lost while playing cricket.

"I wanted people to know me for who I am, because a lot of times, Ashwin's picking up a wicket and Virat Kohli is all over the place. He's just jumping about and people very often tend to believe that Ashwin's the one that's absolutely serious and Virat's the one that's having all the fun, which is why somebody asked me the question, why are you serious all the time? My answer to that in the first place is I'm never a serious person, but when somebody is clobbering me and I have the ball in my hand to win a Test Match for my country, my mind is sticking, because I'm in the process. So very often, you don't see me picking up a five-wicket haul and pushing across a kiss through the blade of my bat to my better half sitting in the dressing room or sitting in the hospitality box. So I felt like a lot of who I am got diluted in the fact of what I've become. So I wanted to bring that out in my book," Ashwin said on Sky Sports.

Indian cricket has been blessed to witness greats of the game like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who often get worshipped like gods.However, Ashwin feels it's harsh to sideline others as cricket is a team sport. But, for Ashwin, he has always been the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of his own story.

"A lot of people talk about, when they talk about Indian cricket, that's one thing I want to change over the years. They talk about Virat Kohli, they have been talking about Rohit over the years. When I grew up, I spoke a lot about Sachin, I spoke about other superstars, the celebrities. One message I would leave for everybody and I want to constantly change is that it's not the fact that these are glorious cricketers but people on the outside who believe that everyone plays a support cast are extremely wrong because this is a sport. An MVP in my life, for my dad or for my mom, I am the MVP. It's not Rohit, Virat or somebody on the outside, likewise, everyone's journey is unique. For me, I have always been the MVP and I am the MVP of my cricket," he added.