"I decided to quit cricket, I was asking myself what I would do?" - Ravichandran Ashwin recalls darkest phase of his career in 2017

Champion off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has opened up on the time when he decided to quit cricket and contemplated pursuing an MBA degree in 2017.

The 37-year-old was a mainstay in all three formats of the Indian side until a horrific outing in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan turned his white-ball fate. With no wickets in the semi-final and disappointing figures of 0/70 in the final, Ashwin was left out of both white-ball sides after the West Indian tour that followed the ICC event.

In a recent conversation with The Indian Express, Ashwin said:

"I decided to quit cricket. I was asking myself what I would do? And I said whatever I do in life, I would try to acheieve excellence and be as good as I can be in that profession. I would probably try to do an MBA and probably be in marketing."

He added:

"Even though I have my family rooting for me and I can come back to my family, I cannot say a lot of things. I would say cricket, in many ways, is a corporate affair with a little bit of governmental organizational activities and attributes."

Ashwin's dropping from the white-ball sides came despite him winning the ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2016 a few months earlier.

India have primarily gone for the wrist-spinning options of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal in the white-ball formats since.

"I was crying for a long time, I didn't expect my dad to say that" - Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin recalled a conversation with his father during his exclusion from the Indian white-ball sides that led to him seriously pondering quitting cricket.

Yet, as fate would have it, he was recalled to the ODI side ahead of the 2023 World Cup and played India's tournament opener.

"My dad and I fight a lot. And he eventually threw a statement, 'You know what? You are too upright and honest. That's why you are getting screwed'. He made that statement and left. I am not someone who is emotive. I would like to think I am pretty strong but I just locked myself away. And then I started weeping. I cried for a long time. I just didn't expect my dad to say that. I don't think he even realized what he did," the off-spinner said.

He concluded:

"I thought I am putting people in my house through a lot. I used to lock myself in the room. I never watched cricket. My room used to be dark all the time."

Ashwin admitted when he finally decided to get outside counseling, it changed his life for the better.

Recently, the veteran cricketer completed 100 Tests and became only the second Indian after Anil Kumble to scale the 500-Test wicket mark.