"I was crying in my room" - Ravichandran Ashwin shares family emergency story during Rajkot Test

Team India's veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin recently spoke about going through an emotional roller coaster during the Rajkot Test against England.

Ashwin stated that he was distraught after learning about his mother's health and was crying alone in his hotel room. Speaking about what was going through his head during the Test match, here's what he said in his latest YouTube video:

"I just couldn’t think. I was crying in my room for some time, and then she informed me that team physio came to check up on me as I was not picking up calls. Rahul Bhai and Rohit both came to check up on me, and all I told them was that I just couldn’t think clearly.

"I am part of the XI, and the game hangs in the balance. If I leave, the squad will be left with 10 people fighting against a full-strength squad when they were in the upper hand. And if I go, we’ll be a bowler short. There are so many things like this."

Ashwin, who claimed his 500th Test wicket during the match, mentioned that he was surprised not to receive any calls from his family members after the end of the day's play. The off-spinner disclosed that when he contacted his wife in the evening, she told him that his mother had collapsed.

The seasoned campaigner added:

"Rohit, me, and some more were just discussing some things about the match there, and that is when I realized I wasn’t getting any calls from my parents or my wife. I thought they were busy attending calls and giving interviews."

I called my wife around 7 p.m. when my parents weren’t picking up my call," Ashwin continued. "Her voice was a bit shaky. She asked me to come separately from the crowd and told me that my mother collapsed after a headache. I kind of blanked out. I didn’t know how to react, what questions to ask, or anything. I was crying, but I wanted to make sure nobody was watching me cry. It is unnecessary to think of it that way, but it was instinctive."

Ravichandran Ashwin flew to Chennai from Rajkot and did not take the field on Day 3 of that Test. The veteran bowler did, however, return to rejoin the team on Day 4.

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"The doctor apparently told me that she was not in a position to be seen" - Ravichandran Ashwin on his conversation with his mother's doctor

Ravichandran Ashwin also shared details of his conversation with his mother's doctor. He revealed that the doctor told him that his mother wasn't in a position to be seen at that time.

The 37-year-old admitted that he was taken aback by that and started frantically searching for flights back home. Ashwin said:

"At the same time, I was on another track in my head, thinking about the last time I spoke with my mother. I just wanted to leave to see her and then come back. I asked how she was and if she was conscious, but the doctor apparently told me that she was not in a position to be seen. I lost it. I was searching for a flight, but I couldn’t get one. The Rajkot airport closes down at 6 as there are no flights from there after 6."

It is worth mentioning that India completed a massive 434-run victory against England in Rajkot, their biggest-ever in terms of runs, to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.