There’s no doubt that R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are players in the annals of cricket history among India’s greatest spin bowling partnerships. Ashwin is second only to legendary Anil Kumble when it comes to the highest wicket-takers for India while Jadeja occupies seventh position, surpassing even Bedi. While both have wreaked havoc in Indian conditions playing together in the Indian playing XI more often than not, in overseas Tests, India always have the tough choice to make on leaving out one of the them. As a rule of thumb, though, it is generally Ashwin who pays for this decision.
When asked how he tackles about this predicament during an interview, Ashwin rebutted interviewer saying, “You are talking about Jealousy”, before going ahead and explaining how people’s minds are conditioned to think in a certain way if one player is chosen over another.
“Ashwin praised Jadeja who possesses exceptional talent and natural ability in almost all areas of cricketing skills- bowling, batting as well as fielding” said Ashwin. “Jadeja is undoubtedly the most gifted cricketer I have come across; everything about him seems effortless. Over time, we have become closer; we have made peace with our respective ‘flaws’, if you will,” Ashwin added. He observed their difference by saying that there are aspects where they conflict, “I ruminate more than he does”. It took us some time to reach this understanding but today we enjoy a solid working relationship.
He doesn’t think Jadeja’s success is harmful in anyway and, therefore, he holds no grudge against him. “It’s not Jadeja’s fault that I’m not playing. I don’t have the kind of jealousy where I would wish to keep him out just to play myself. We need to get past the idea of jealousy,” he explained. According to Ashwin, thoughts like such are related to the recognition of substitution rather than individual worth.
Ashwin reiterated the need for good communication within the team. “It is very important that players who are not on the field should be dealt with in a clear way that gives them confidence” he stated. He accepted that his fielding may not measure up to that of Jadeja but the goal should be to always strive for improvement. “Internal motivation should take precedence over any form of external comparison,” said Ashwin.
According to Ashwin, who was responding to typical thoughts about cricket, one of the things that one should never do is blame politics for team selections. “Selection problems are sometimes blamed on politics instead of personal merit. Therefore, we ought to be more concerned with being truthful and trying to improve ourselves,” he said.
