A sense of belonging: Ashwin said the title of the book is based
on how the city and street cricket were his safe havens.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN
“We all grace this planet for only a small amount of time, and if we can touch people’s lives through any form and make them laugh or learn from your story, it is great,” says R. Ashwin on one of the main reasons for writing his book I Have the Streets: A Kutti Cricket Story, which was launched here on Friday.
“Smart people learn from others’ experiences. As long as this book positively impacts even five per cent of the people who read this, I have done my job,” he added.
Ashwin, who will be seen in action in the TNPL next month, said he wanted to reveal what it takes to succeed at the highest level. “We need to understand that if you are coming from this part of the country, you must fight for acceptance. You can’t quit. That is one thing I wanted to establish. We often want it to be easy and don’t expect it to be tough. If you aspire for it, you have to adapt yourself. If you want to be successful, be open to the fact that things will get tough. I wanted to echo that,” explained Ashwin.
About the reason behind the book’s title, Ashwin revealed how the city and street cricket were his safe havens even as he became an integral part of the Indian team.
“In my 17-18 years on the road as a professional cricketer, I would be lying if I said I felt comfortable for a large part of it. I always wanted to return home to my friends and family until 2015. You need to accept that this is how it is and learn how to combat it, but you can’t run away and complain. So the book was about me running back to my streets, which felt like the perfect fit for the whole story.”
Later in the evening, Ashwin, in an interaction with sports commentator Radhakrishnan Sreenivasan, spoke about the impact his parents and grandfather had on him regarding his work ethic and inquisitiveness. The off-spinner also spoke about pivotal roles played by former cricketers M.S. Dhoni, Gautam Gambhir and W.V. Raman.
