'Teammates are no longer friends', says Ravi Ashwin on dressing room atmosphere

Ravi Ashwin, ranked number one bowler in Tests, has opened up on the dressing room atmosphere in today’s cricket. India’s most successful off-spinner with 474 wickets under his belt, Ashwin was left out of the playing XI against Australia in the WTC Final, a one-off clash that the Aussies won by 209 runs at the Oval in London. That decision was widely criticised.

Having been around the Indian cricket circuit for over 13 years, Ravi Ashwin evolved as a player and has seen a lot of stuff unfolding in Indian cricket in the past decade.

In this fast-moving age of franchise-based T20 Cricket Leagues, with players from every country playing alongside each other, the consensus was that there would be a friendly environment – but that’s not the case.

Ashwin’s latest remarks shed some light into this situation.

Speaking with the Indian Express newspaper in an exclusive chat, Ashwin opened up on how things pan out in the dressing room nowadays.

Elaborating on the competitive culture growing among teammates irrespective of the formats, Ashwin said how, unlike earlier times when teammates were actually friends, it changed now as he feels players playing together are mere colleagues nowadays.

“This is an era where everybody is a colleague. Once upon a time, when cricket was played, all your teammates were friends. Now, they’re colleagues. There’s a big difference because here people are there to advance themselves and to stride ahead of another person sitting to your right or left,” Ashwin told the Indian Express.

Ashwin, who despite leading the wickets column for India in the latest WTC cycle, didn’t find a spot in the XI in the all-important clash, said with players sharing their journeys, it gets easier to learn and grow from that, something that is completely missing in today’s world.

“In fact, I believe cricket gets better when you share it. It gets better when you when you understand another person’s technique and another person’s journey. But it doesn’t happen anywhere close to how much it must happen,” Ashwin added.

Ashwin-less India struggled in the UK

Dropping Ashwin meant India played with four seamers, including a seam-bowling all-rounder in Shardul Thakur, alongside one spinner – Ravindra Jadeja. While this combination looked best on paper, things changed quickly during the first hour on day one with green turf underneath and an overcast sky above.

As the game progressed, with Australia taking lead from day one, came a point on the final day when Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon turned the game on his head and helped his team win the crucial match, raising questions over Ashwin’s absence in the XI.

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