Ashwin’s milestone of claiming 500 wickets in Test cricket was overshadowed by a family crisis. This significant achievement came during his 100th Test match, a moment that should have been purely celebratory. Instead, the joy was cut short.
Prithi, Ashwin’s spouse, shared the events surrounding this emotional rollercoaster. As Ashwin approached his 500th wicket, his family tried to maintain a sense of normalcy.
The children had just returned from school when Ashwin reached his milestone. Suddenly, the celebration turned into concern. Prithi heard a scream; Ashwin’s mother had collapsed.
“During Rajkot, the kids had just got back from school when five minutes later, he got to 500. And soon, all of us were on the phone answering all the congratulatory messages,” Prithi told Indian Express’ Venkata Krishna B.
“It was then that I heard a sudden scream from aunty as she collapsed, and in no time we were at the hospital. At that point, we had decided not to tell Ashwin because there wasn’t good flight connectivity between Chennai and Rajkot,” she added.
Without hesitation, they rushed to the hospital. Prithi decided not to inform Ashwin immediately because of the weak connectivity between Rajkot and Chennai.
She reached out to Cheteshwar Pujara for assistance. Pujara and his family provided invaluable support during this critical time. She called up Ashwin as soon as it was possible.
Ashwin would have ‘extreme amount of guilt’
According to Ashwin’s wife, the cricketer sounded “broken and hung up” when he came to know about his mother’s health. Prithi thanked Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid among the others in the team and the BCCI for helping Ashwin through the tough time.
“Given his personality, he would never leave a game like that. And he would have an extreme amount of guilt if he didn’t win the game for his team,” she said.
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Published: 06 Mar 2024, 01:27 PM IST