IPL Diary: Birthday wishes to inspiring and motivating Ashwin

By K.R. Nayar

Delhi Capitals and India’s legendary spinner Ravichandran Ashwin celebrated his birthday on September 17^th in UAE. Ramesh Ramakrishnan, a family friend of the spinner reveals the ability in Ashwin to inspire people  through his motivational talks. Read my IPL Diary which appeared in Gulf News

Ravichandran Ashwin selfie with  Ramesh Ramakrishnan

Among the first people to wish Delhi Capitals’ Ravichandran Ashwin a Happy Birthday on September 17 was UAE based Ramesh Ramakrishnan, a family friend of the legendary Indian off-spinner. Ashwin has been a frequent visitor to UAE for the last few years and the reason behind it is Ramesh’s long-standing relationship with him that lead to a tie-up between Ashwin’s Gen-Next cricket academy and UAE based Leap Sports Management firm, run by Vinayy Premkumar and Anusha Ramesh, with Ramesh as a mentor. 

Ramesh always makes it a point to be among the first to wish him on his special day, and hence he wished Ashwin at midnight itself. “During my interactions with Ashwin over the years, I have realised that given his technical background, he is analytical in his approach. He is also practical and witty. If you go to him with a problem, he often comes up with some innovative solution. That's when I thought that he could be of great benefit to budding youngsters and professionals in the UAE, and thus I invited him for many leadership talks. The professional that he is, he does his ground-work well before coming to any meeting or talk. He has talked about motivation and life-skills, and how to keep one's mental stability intact at all times, something that has become very relevant in the present pandemic scenario."

Ashwin, who has not only mastered the art of off-spin, but also bowls the carom ball, leg-spin, and a variety of other deliveries, has also held coaching sessions for some of the leading cricket academies here as requested by Ramesh. His disciplined approach and effective time management helped him complete his Engineering degree while handling the pressures of playing high-level cricket. Once while talking to Gulf News during one of his visits that Ramesh had arranged, he said: “Albert Einstein had once remarked that on an average people use only one percent of their brain. As a cricketer, if you can just be that point one percent smarter than the other cricketer, I think you would do well for yourself.  I believe that after a point you have to play cricket with your head.” 

Ashwin, who has coached Ramesh's teenage son Sanjay, also added: "I did not get anything on a platter; so to be successful as a cricketer the most important thing is to use the available infrastructure and facility and get better by the day. If you look for short cuts, that will be easily found out when you go up the ladder.” Sanjay is said to be following his advice, and says: "All the tips that Ashwin gave me made me realise that nothing comes without dedication and determination, and I am adapting that in my life too."