I like to leave my own legacy: Ashwin

The off-spinner has now won eight Man-of-the-Series awards in his 10-year career and is only eight wickets short of equalling Harbhajan Singh's 417 Test wickets

Ahmedabad: Ravichandran Ashwin’s aim is to leave his lasting legacy in the pantheon of Indian cricket greats.

The off-spinner has now won eight Man-of-the-Series awards in his 10-year career and is only eight wickets short of equalling Harbhajan Singh’s 417 Test wickets. It could well happen in England this summer but he doesn’t want to entertain any such thoughts.

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“Honestly, that’s not even crossed my mind and if you want me to put my thoughts on it. He is a fantastic bowler. There’s a lot that I have learnt from him. I wasn’t even an off-spinner when Bhajju paa started playing for the Indian team,” Ashwin’s respect for another practitioner of the same craft was there for all to see.

“I was fortunate to play alongside Bhajju paa when I came into the team and also play under Anil Bhai but I would now like to leave my own legacy,” Ashwin said.

Being a student of the game Ashwin wants to evolve as a cricketer and a person everyday. “My growth as a cricketer is a direct synonym to the person I am. I want to keep evolving, keep learning and that’s my second nature, directly proportional to the kind of cricketer I am and whatever I do, the best that I can be.”

Ashwin’s apathy for all those pitch critics is well documented and he would love to see how the global media reacts when a green top is given to India when they go for a game outside the sub-continent.

“The series win is a testament to the fact that this is a really good Indian cricket team. That’s all I would like to say. Other day, I was listening to what Sunny bhai (Sunil Gavaskar) was saying, makes sense,” Ashwin said referring to Gavaskar’s statement about not giving too much credence to the British pundits, whose favourite day job had been criticising the Indian track.