Ashwin left Rajkot Test, England series midway to attend to mother in Chennai: BCCI VP wishes for her ‘speedy recovery’

Team India received a jolt out of the blue late on Friday night when the BCCI dropped a bombshell announcing that Ravichandran Ashwin, their premier spinner, has withdrawn from the Indian Test immediately due to a medical emergency in the family.

The board did not dwell into further details and asked the public to respect the India star’s privacy while adding that the BCCI offers its full support to Ashwin in this time of need.

While nothing more was revealed, it has now emerged that Ashwin flew to Chennai to attend to his mother, who fell sick. Rajiv Shukla, the BCCI vice-president, in a post, confirmed that Ashwin had indeed rushed out of Rajkot to be with his mom.

“Wishing speedy recovery of mother of @ashwinravi99. He has to rush and leave Rajkot Test to Chennai to be with his mother. @BCCI,” Shukla posted on X.

In these testing times, prayers and best wishes go out to the India champion and his family. February 16, 2024 was supposed to be one of the biggest and greatest days of Ashwin’s cricketing career as the India spinner had become only the second bowler from the country to complete 500 Test wickets, and to have this day ended with a personal setback is an anti-climax no one, let alone Ashwin, would have expected. Going by the choice of words used by the BCCI in their release, the matter could be of grave concern but then again, all kinds of speculations should be avoided at this moment.

Ashwin’s mother Chitra, has been an instrumental figure behind the rise of his son. While it was his father Ravichandran, who used to notice the minutest of movements about Ashwin and used to take him around for matches and training, it was Chitra who became Ashwin’s first coach. Legend even has it that it was on Chitra’s advice that Ashwin let go of his fascination of wanting to become a fast bowler and take up spin instead. Once while a young Ashwin was bowling pace in the nets, Chitra pulled him aside, explained to him that his long run-up wasn’t the most ideal and advised him to take up spin.

As mentioned by Ravichandran in The Indian Express, the parents even put Ashwin in Karnataka music classes because Chitra was into it, but their boy never brought into the idea and ultimately chose cricket. And what a decision it turned out to be.

“I had to note down our son’s performance in each and every match from his childhood. Even, I used to note Ashwin’s batting and bowling performance at the nets also. I had written the comments of his coach after everyday training. The reason was that his mother used to watch my notes and then start advising her son,” Ashwin’s father had once told OneIndia News in an interview.

In fact, Ashwin’s parents – Chitra and Ravichandran – had shared a special message on the occasion of their son’s 500th Test wicket. “Congratulations on your 500 wickets. We have been waiting for this for quite a long time and it is a special feat for someone to achieve this from the state of Tamil Nadu,” his mother said while speaking to Jio Cinema.

Ashwin’s day on the field

It was an eventful day nonetheless for Ashwin on the field on Day 2 of the third Test between India and England on Friday. Ashwin played a crucial role for India with the bat scoring a vital 39 and was one of the reasons why India were slapped with 5 penalty runs as he accidentally ran on the middle of the surface. Later, when he got the ball in his hands, Ashwin gave India their first breakthrough of the innings by dismissing Zak Crawley out LBW to become the 9th bowler overall and second fastest ever to 500 Test wickets.

Having said that, Ashwin’s urgent pullout has thrown the Indian team and its plans into a quandary. While it may not be the right time to talk about cricket at the time of a family emergency, the fact remains that India are in the middle of a Test match of a huge series, and on the defensive after facing the wrath of Bazball. In reply to India’s first-innings total of 445, England have rocketed to 207/2 in just 35 with opener Ben Duckett’s brutal century leading the way.

Ashwin’s absence means that India are a man down now, not only in the bowling department but also on the field. As per the ICC rules, a team can only be allowed a substitute in the case of an injury or Covid-19. Also, with Ashwin out of the series indefinitely, an official replacement is expected to be named.