'It was one of the worst nightmares I have had' - Ravichandran Ashwin on bowling through an injury in the Adelaide Test

Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that he had bowled through a Grade 3 abdomen muscle tear during the second innings of the 2018 Adelaide Test match. The versatile spinner went on to bowl a marathon match-winning spell of almost 53 overs in that innings.

Ravichandran Ashwin shared insights about his cricketing career in an exclusive chat with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket Live.

On being asked about how he takes the somewhat unjust criticism that he is only good at home and doesn't get much success in Australia and England, Ravichandran Ashwin talked about an Instagram post that he had seen this morning praising his performance in the Adelaide Test of 2018.

"This morning when I woke up somebody reminded me on Instagram about the last wicket of Hazlewood that I took in the Adelaide Test and said that it was one hell of a performance."

Ravichandran Ashwin added that the person had lauded his effort of bowling 90 overs in the match while picking up 6 wickets, apart from the 25 runs he had scored in the first innings - a performance that had helped India register a memorable win.

"He reminded me that I had bowled 90 overs, picked up 6 wickets for 150 runs. Yes I didn't get a 5-wicket haul but he said that is was one hell of a spell where I got India to a famous victory. He also mentioned about the 25 runs I made in the first innings."

How Ravi Ashwin silenced his critics with a dominant spell on day two in Adelaide, writes @ARamseyCricket: https://t.co/NxLd8oXANB #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/guYmDFJMRA

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 7, 2018

Ravichandran Ashwin responded that a spinner's role is different in foreign conditions as he has to be more of a restrictive bowler, with the seamers being the attacking weapons.

"Sometimes contributions are not necessarily eye-catching when you travel abroad because you are not doing the bulk of the work, that the quicks are doing and you are doing a sort of a holding role at times."

Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that he tries to learn from constructive criticism, while adding that he has learnt not to get too concerned about all that is written or spoken.

"But how I take criticism, it is something that I always pay attention to, in terms of trying to see if I can learn something out of it but of late I realised that most of the criticisms are people doing their job."

"People are on air or are writing, they are making a living out of what they say about me. After a point, I don't think about it much at all. I cannot be lying to myself. I know with all honesty what I must be doing and how I should get better."

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Ravichandran Ashwin on his injury during the Adelaide spell

Ravichandran Ashwin bowled through an abdomen muscle tear in the Adelaide Test

Ravichandran Ashwin was again asked about his marathon spell of 52.5 overs in the 2nd innings of the Adelaide Test against Australia, where he claimed 3 wickets while conceding just 92 runs.

The Tamil Nadu spinner responded that it was a spell that he would cherish always, even though he did not get the rightful credits for it.

"That performance in Australia, I will cherish all the time. I don't think I got enough credits for it. I am not saying just for the credits. For me it was a very memorable game for more than just one reason."

Ravichandran Ashwin revealed that he had torn his abdomen muscle even before he had started bowling in the second innings and had to bowl through the pain for the entire spell.

"I had torn my abdomen muscle right before I got into my 2nd innings spell. From the over no.1, I had a grade 3 tear and I just went through with it, I had tablets and kept going. After a point of time you don't feel the pain, I became numb to pain."

Ravichandran Ashwin divulged that it was one of his worst nightmares as he couldn't sleep properly for the next ten days, a consequence of not paying enough attention to his injury.

"I cannot even fathom now how I went through that entire spell of 52 overs then. That pain is still tingling in my abdomen as I talk about it. It was one of the worst nightmares I have had, for ten straight days from thereon I couldn't sleep properly at night because every time I used to inhale, my abdomen used to throb and pain and say that this is the gift you get for keeping on going and not worrying what is going on inside your body."

Ravichandran Ashwin mentioned that the worst part was that he couldn't play the final Test of the series on a spinner-friendly Sydney track, and added that he would always remember the Adelaide Test with mixed emotions.

"I had a torrid ten day time and even worse, I couldn't recover fast for the series finale at Sydney. It was quite an up and down moment, but it will be one of those cherished moments with a little bit of pain in my heart."

Ravichandran Ashwin bowled a total of 86.5 overs in the two innings of the Adelaide Test, claiming 6 wickets while conceding 149 runs. This included the match-clinching last wicket of Josh Hazlewood in the second innings.

India went on to win the series 2-1, with another win at Melbourne apart from a draw and a loss at Sydney and Perth respectively. This was the first time ever that India had emerged as the victors in a Test series in Australia.