Ravichandran Ashwin: Lot of my takes in life come from movies

Veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has revealed that he's heavily inspired by movies when it comes to understanding life’s philosophies. Quoting a dialogue from a Rajinikanth movie, he explained how he has been able to overcome insecurities in life.

Ashwin is playing in his 100th Test in the match against England in Dharamsala. He's only the 14th Indian player to achieve the feat, joining the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Anil Kumble in an illustrious list.

In a special video on bcci.tv to mark his landmark Test, titled ‘Life, Cricket & Beyond ft. Ashwin’, the off-spinner opened up about how films have influenced his thought process.

“Lot of my takes in life, and sport and in general, come from movies. In one movie, Rajini (Rajinikanth) actually goes on to say this dialogue - when you know the death date, your living time becomes hell (English translation of dialogue). We all know that we have a marked death date, but we all live very happily. We all live the moment. We all want to express ourselves because we all believe we are immortal for a very long time.”

He added:

“The moment you know there is a finite nature to it, you start defending that finite nature. You don’t start living that finite space. And I found that very deep. When you understand it and are able to put thought to it, it kind of pushes the bar even more. And that’s how I shed massive insecurities in my life.

"It’s like this - you find a small bird, you nurture it, provide for it and then, eventually when it’s ready to fly, you cage it,” the 37-year-old went on to elaborate.

Ashwin made his Test debut against West Indies in November 2011 and has gone on to establish himself as one of the legends of the game in the red-ball format.

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“Big achievement for any player to play 100 Tests” - Rohit Sharma on Ashwin

Ahead of the Dharamsala Test, Indian captain Rohit Sharma paid tribute to Ashwin and said that it’s rare to find players like him. The duo go back a long way, having played together at the U-17 and U-19 levels as well.

"Big achievement for any player to play 100 Tests. He has been a match winner for us.

"What he has done for us, no praise is enough. His performances over the last five-seven years, every series he has contributed. It is rare to have players like him," the Indian captain said.

Heading into his 100th Test, Ashwin had claimed 507 scalps at an average of 23.91, with 35 five-fers and eight 10-wicket match hauls.