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Veteran India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin had to take a leave of absence after the second day’s play of the Rajkot Test against England. Ashwin, who had reached the 500 wickets milestone the same day, addressed the press conference after the end of the final session and immediately jetted off to home. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that it was a ‘family emergency’ that prompted Ashwin to take a flight back home and it was later found out that the situation had something to do with his mother’s health. While Ashwin himself hasn’t spoken about the matter yet, his wife Prithi explained the matter in a column she penned ahead of the cricketer’s 100th Test.
In her column for the Indian Express, Prithi explained that Ashwin’s mother suddenly collapsed, prompting the family to take her to the hospital. But, instead of calling Ashwin, she gave a phone call to Cheteshwar Pujara to figure out the return route for the India off-spinner.
“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.
“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,” Prithi wrote in the column.
“So I dialled Cheteshwar Pujara and his family were of great help. And once we found a way out, I called up Ashwin because after the scans, the doctor suggested it was better to have her son around. Over the phone, he sounded so broken and hung up. It took another 20-25 minutes to process what I told him and for him to call back. And thanks to Rohit (Sharma), Rahul bhai (Dravid) and the others in the team and the BCCI – who followed up all the way till he reached here – he got here late at night,” she further added.
Ashwin reached home and saw her mother in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Thankfully, Ashwin’s mom recovered, prompting the veteran spinner to take a return flight to Rajkot and join his teammates on Day 4 of the Test.
“It was a very emotional moment for him to see his mom in the ICU. And after she stabilised, we asked him to rejoin the team. 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. Through those couple of days, I realised his yearning for time with his parents is a lot more now and it is coming with age and maturity,” she further said in the column.
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