Quotes from Ravichandran Ashwin

There are many people who believe in me and have backed me. I owe it to them - and not just to myself - to succeed when I step onto the field.

To be very modest about what is happening in my life and my career over the last couple of years, I did not know if I would go on to play Test cricket when we were in the pandemic, in the lockdown.

What mistake all of us make when we are talking about a particular cricketer is that we say they are trying too much, the control is not there, there is no patience. These are cliched terms.

Honestly I don't listen to lot of English music. I listen to lot of Bollywood music and my favourite singer is Shoaib Bhushan and my favourite musician is from down south is AR Rahman.

At 10 o'clock every night, I take my dogs for a walk. And sometimes people do see me on the road. I actually don't bother a lot about what people think about what I am doing.

As far as I'm concerned, I bowl at other team batsmen not at Indian batters.

I'm actually fighting my own benchmarks in a lot of ways. The number of games that I've managed to win for my country and for myself, the number of successes I've had and the excellence I've shown is always measured up in equal parlance when I travel away from the country, which is great.

So whenever Marnus Labuschagne steps out, he hits the ball over cow corner for an offspinner, or he hits it over mid-off. It's very rare through long-on. And he doesn't have a flat sweep, he has a lap sweep, like a paddle.

Since I started playing, I always wanted to pose a threat to the batsmen, so I always kept evolving.

At one stage, I just wanted to play one Test for India. People used to say I was just a T20 bowler, a limited-overs bowler. All these tag lines were doing the rounds but I did want to make a difference.

As a spinner, you need to be very precise in Australia. Every run you give must be on your own terms.

I used to bowl a lot of seam-up for Tamil Nadu and then my pelvic disc slipped. Then I just started batting, I didn't want to bowl at all. I wanted to do nothing with bowling.

For me to able to deliver on a consistent basis abroad there are a lot of factors beyond just me that need to go into it.

Towards the end of the careers, senior cricketers may play only Tests. This means they'll be available for Ranji matches.

Between 2018 and 2020, I contemplated giving up the sport at various points.

Giving a point to a team that has not conceded an outright win is not that great an idea. When an outright result cannot be reached, the points should be shared between the two teams.

I am thrilled to be a part of the Delhi Capitals. A new team always brings up different challenges.

If I feel like I am being thrown under the bus, how am I supposed to get up and come for a party to enjoy the team's or team-mate's success?

Whenever I've gone out there, like every batsman wants to get a hundred, my aim is to get a five-wicket haul.

Even if I've studied all there is to study, I get a nervous and twitchy feeling before the exam. Till I get the question paper I'm nervous. This somehow gives me a little bit extra when I'm on the field. I'm able to make decisions on the field just a bit quicker.

Sometimes when you listen to me on the field, or when you listen to me on the morning of the game, you'd think I am an idiot. I can completely empathise with those who might think so.

Spinners are increasingly starting to bowl short, which means they are taking the straight boundaries away. When you play Test match cricket, you can't bowl short.

I am not usually fussy about food but sometimes on overseas tours if I get bored I take a cooker and some rice and enjoy some curd rice.

It is possible to get a degree in Engineering by merely passing the exams and not really learning the concepts in depth, and also get a job based on that degree. Similarly, a cricketer can waste the opportunities in the nets and in training, and with some talent still play professional cricket.