Chennai, Dec 21 (UNI) Ms Prithi Narayanan, wife of iconic Indian offie R Ashwin on Saturday penned a emotional tribute on her husband and her all time favourite cricketer, who announced his retirement from International cricket midway through the ongoing Test series in Australia, which is on an even keel at 1-1 after three tests.
There were many many memories over the last 13-14 years, she said.
In an Instagram post, she wrote “it has been a blurry two days for me”.
“I have been thinking about what can I say…Do I put this down as tribute to my all time favourite cricketer ? Maybe I’ll just take the partner annle ? Or maybe a love letter from a fan girl ? I guess this is a little bit of all of it”, she said.
“When I saw Ashwins PC, I thought of small and big moments. Many many memories over the last 13-14 years. The big wins, the MOS awards, the quiet silence in our room after an intense game, the sound of the shower running for much longer than usual on some evenings post play, the scratch of pencil over paper as he scribbled thoughts down, the constant streaming of footage videos when he is making a game plan, the calm of meditative breathing before leaving for each game, certain songs playing on repeat while he unwinds..”, she said.
“The times we weeped in joy – after the CT final, after the MCG win, after the Sydney draw, The Gabba win, after making a comeback in T20s…the times we sat in silence and the times when we had our hearts broken,” Ms Prithi posted.
“Dear Ashwin, from not knowing how to put a kit bag together to following you to stadiums all over the world, rooting for you, watching you and learning from you, it has been an absolute pleasure”, she said, in the tribute.
“The world you introduced me to gave me the privilege to watch and enjoy a sport that I love from close quarters. It also showed me how much passion, hardwork and discipline is needed to keep your head above water. And sometimes even that is not enough. I remember us talking about why you, R Ashwin, had to do all of this and a lot more to even stay relevant in the scheme of things”, she said.
“How awards, the best of stats, the POMs, the accolades, the records didn’t matter if you didn’t sharpen your skill sets constantly and did not put in the work. Sometimes, nothing is enough,” Prithi said.
She ended by writing “As you end your wonderful international run, I only want to tell you that it’s all good. It is all going to be good. It is time to set the burden of being you down. Live life on your terms, make space for those extra calories, make time for your family, make time to do absolutely nothing, share memes all day, create a new bowling variation, bug our kids out of their minds. Just do it all.”
