In life and in cricket, I would rather fail than play safe: Ravichandran Ashwin

India’s veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has admitted he likes to be aggressive and doesn’t want to play safe. Ashwin said he would rather fail in life and cricket than play safe. The off-spinner has never been shy of experimenting with his variations and action.

It is never easy to meddle with the action after reaching the top level but Ashwin has been fearless but more importantly, he has reaped rewards for always trying something different. In the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Premier League, Ashwin opened the innings while leading Dindigul Dragons to glory.

Meanwhile, Dindigul Dragons defeated Lyca Kovai Kings by six wickets after they chased down 130 in the summit clash. DD skipper Ravichandran Ashwin was awarded Player of the Match for scoring 51 off 46 balls and conceding only 13 runs in his quota of four overs.

Ashwin scored 252 runs in nine innings of the tournament at an average of 36. Furthermore, he bagged nine wickets in 10 matches of TNPL. 

“I am living my life, that’s it. I am not thinking about accomplishing ‘A’, ‘B’ or ‘C’ . I am staying in the moment. I am a creative person in general, and if I feel I want to do something, I will go ahead and do it. right or wrong, is something that I will assimilate later,” Ashwin told PTI in an exclusive interview.

“I’m not insecure at all. I would rather fail in life than be absolutely safe. That’s my character. I don’t have the common insecurities that people have,” he asserts with the same clarity with which he decodes complex cricket laws in his social media feeds, which don’t take long to become viral trends.

“Breaking away from my insecurity gave me a great insight into how I can exploit somebody else’s insecurity. And that’s how I see cricket or life in general,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 break gave Ashwin a new perspective in life as he was playing continuously at the top level after making his debut.

“The time that I have is pretty limited. I do plan but for me it’s about living life. I felt cricket took away a lot of my time since 2010 but COVID gave me a chance to take a break, and you know, assess where I was,” he recalls.

“It has given me wings over the last four years to be able to express myself, expand my creativity zones and so on and so forth,” he said.

Ashwin will be in action in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.