I want to be invaluable for any team I play: Ravichandran Ashwin

2016 has been a fantastic year for Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin took 72 wickets in 12 Tests at an average of 23.90 with the help of 8 five wicket haul. With the bat, his contributions are very crucial for the team as the right-hander has scored 612 runs in 14 innings at a healthy average of 43 with 4 fifties and 2 centuries.

All these performances has seen him end the year as the ICC cricketer of the year while occupying the top spot in the ICC Bowlers and all-rounder Test ranking. The off-spinner has helped India pressing their dominance at home. In an interview with Sport360, Ashwin said being the MVP in the team is his mantra to success and not just an end result.

Ashwin said, “I think I am always the most important cricketer in the team and most important cricketer for myself. I want to be invaluable for any team that I am part of, be it a league game in Chennai, Ranji Trophy match for Tamil Nadu, IPL teams or for India. I take a lot of pride in my performance. So my contribution is my only focus and not what I bring to the game or who I was before I got into the game.”

He is one of the most improved cricketers in the world in the last couple of years and the spinner feels that he hasn’t changed much but became a bit more matured.

“I haven’t changed much, to be honest. The changes visible out on the field are a reflection of the complicated person you see in me. You won’t see many people around in the world, in any profession, who will be able to change or go all in to try and change something about themselves to be excellent. I am proud of myself but I feel I haven’t changed that much, just matured a bit more,” he revealed.

Among many match winning performances, Ash recalls the his show in the Antigua Test as his most satisfying performance of the year. He was at his finest during the game, scoring a century in the first innings and picked up seven wickets in West Indies’ second innings to help India win the match.

“Antigua is one of the special ones as how it happened. I had got a hundred in the first innings. My dream was to score a hundred and pick up five wickets in a Test. I started off on a good note, batted at number six, scored a hundred. In the first innings, I didn’t get any wicket. What gives me a kick is people throw me down, criticise me and speculate about me. And when I come roaring back into the game and prove myself is what gives me a kick and that’s why it (Antigua match) was memorable,” he conceded.