'Saw an outstanding leader in Rohit Sharma that day': Ashwin recalls India captain's gesture

Apart from India’s emphatic 4-1 triumph against England, the five-match Test series has been quite memorable for spin magician Ravichandran Ashwin. In the Test series against the Ben Stokes-led side, Ashwin made his 100th Test appearance and also succeeded in breaching the 500-wicket mark in this format. Despite the positives, the series also saw Ashwin face some family emergency and leave the squad midway through the Rajkot Test. Ashwin had to return to Chennai to attend to his mother who was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a hospital in Chennai. Ashwin recently shared how Indian skipper Rohit Sharma helped him in tackling the situation.

“Kamlesh, the team physio, is a very good friend of mine. Rohit told him to fly with me to Chennai and be with me but I convinced him to stay back. When I went down, the security and Kamlesh were already there, waiting. Kamlesh got a call from Rohit on our ride towards the airport, checking up on me and literally asking him to be with me during this tough time. It was 9:30 at night. I was just gobsmacked. I cannot even think about it,” Ashwin recalled while speaking on his YouTube channel.

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“The two people there are the only ones that I could talk to. What if nobody was there? I just thought, even if I were a captain, I’d tell my players to go back home. No second thoughts about it. But will I be calling people to check up on him? I don’t know. Unbelievable. I saw an outstanding leader in Rohit Sharma that day,” he added.

Following the family emergency, Ashwin made a roaring comeback and capped off the Test series on a promising note. Ashwin achieved a historic feat by registering the most number of five-wicket hauls for India in the history of Test cricket. The 37-year-old claimed his 36th five-wicket haul on the third day of the fifth Test, played in Dharamsala.

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Ashwin surpassed the tally of Indian great and ex-skipper Anil Kumble (35). Overall, Ashwin succeeded in matching legendary New Zealand cricketer Richard Hadlee. The Indian spinner is now behind two greats of the game Muttiah Muralitharan and Shane Warne on this elite list of bowlers.

Despite conceding a defeat in the Test series opener, the Indian cricket team scripted a resounding comeback to win the series. Team India won four games on the trot to clinch the five-match Test series 4-1.